Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/914212
95 Q4 2017 / CINEMONTAGE "Well before he led this nation, Ronald Reagan led the Screen Actors Guild during its first three strikes," Acosta explained when he announced the planned induction at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in August. "As President of the Screen Actors Guild, President Reagan negotiated never-before-seen concessions for SAG members, which included residual payments and health and pension benefits. As President of this nation, Ronald Reagan continued to recognize the contributions of unions to a free society. His support for Solidarity in Poland prompted a flourishing of freedom that ultimately led to the collapse of Communism." Inexplicably, Acosta's statement didn't mention a word of Reagan's role in breaking the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO). In 1981, he fired more than 11,300 air traffic controllers when they refused to end an "illegal strike." At the time, PATCO was decertified by the Federal Labor Relations Authority. When it comes to his lasting effect on labor organizations, Reagan's presidential actions overshadow his work with the Screen Actors Guild. CANADIANS USE NAFTA TO ATTACK 'RIGHT TO WORK' After almost a quarter of a century, the North American Free Trade Agreement is facing re-negotiation, writes Celeste Drake for the AFL-CIO's blog Now in mid- September. Officially, the AFL-CIO approves of a new negotiation, having opposed NAFTA from the start. NAFTA is considered a "trade deal," but it's really a collection of rules that give corporations greater power over the three economies of North America. It gives companies the ability to undermine laws and rules that protect American workers. It made it easier for US employers to close workplaces and move to Mexico. And once the companies move, NAFTA's rules don't protect workers' rights and freedoms. Recent NAFTA negotiations are moving along slowly. It is too soon to say whether the reforms will bring a "New Economic Deal" to working people, or simply enhance existing crony capitalism. Having said this, there was a surprising development recently. The Canadian negotiating team told US negotiators that US laws that "interfere with people's freedom to negotiate" on the job are undermining standards for Canada and should be abolished. The AFL-CIO's response? Canada is right. These laws — commonly known as "right to work" laws — are an example of the wealthiest one percent fixing the rules to undermine the ability of people to come together as a union and negotiate with employers for better pay, benefits and working conditions. It should come as no surprise, but states with these freedom- suppressing laws have lower wages and experience a pushing down of workplace standards for themselves, and for workers in other states. Not surprisingly, this affects Canada, too. NEWS WEBSITES SHUT DOWN AFTER VOTE TO UNIONIZE In late October, reporters and editors in the combined newsroom of DNAinfo and Gothamist, two of New York City's leading digital publishers of local news, celebrated a victory after their vote to join the Writers Guild of America, East, write Andrew Newman and John Leland in The New York Times. A week later they lost their jobs, as Joe Ricketts, the billionaire founder of TD Ameritrade who owned the news sites, shut them both down. A post by Ricketts explained the decision. He praised the staff for reporting "thousands of stories that have informed, impacted and inspired millions of people." But he then added, "DNAinfo is, at the end of the day, a business, and businesses need to be economically successful if they are to endure." The decision puts 115 people out of work, both at the New York office that unionized and at offices in Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, DC that did not. They are receiving three months of paid leave at full salary, plus four weeks of severance. Before the vote, DNAinfo's chief operating officer sent the staff an e-mail asking if a union might be "the final straw that caused the business to close." Ricketts said, "As long as it's my money that's paying for everything, I intend to be the one making the decisions about the direction of the business." In mid-November, the WGAe announced that the union won "substantial gains beyond the initial offer made by management" for workers who lost their jobs when Ricketts took the sites offline, including being able to use work previously produced for DNAinfo or Gothamist. LABOR MAT TERS President Ronald Reagan at the Republican National Convention in Dallas in 1984. Photo by Associated Press