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20 CINEMONTAGE / Q2 2018 Did the folks at Nick's management agree to respect their employees' choice because they're more enlightened and humane than other corporate leaders? Did they do the right thing because they knew the support for unionizing was unshakeable? Were they persuaded by the fact that many of the company's other employees, already represented by the Animation Guild, our sister union, stood in support of their editorial colleagues? Or did they sense something in the emerging zeitgeist that suggested it would be imprudent to fight unionization? Perhaps it was some combination of all these factors. Whatever forces may be at work, there is evidence of a shift in the zeitgeist, a warming to the notion of workers standing together to insist upon respect and a voice on the job. Signs aren't limited to anecdotal evidence about particular strikes or organizing campaigns; one can find data that bode well for unions bouncing back. The most recent Gallup Poll shows public approval for unions at its highest rate since 2003. That's good news, but the better news is that Gallup reports younger respondents were significantly more pro-labor than other age groups. That trend isn't manifest only in polling; 76 percent of the 262,000 employees who joined unions in 2017 were under the age of 35, despite that demographic comprising only 40 percent of the overall workforce. Younger employees are demonstrating an enthusiasm for collective action that surpasses that of older generations. (We witnessed this trend with the outsized participation of younger workers in our recent organizing victories at both Vice Media and Nickelodeon.) It's almost enough to give a curmudgeonly middle-aged trade unionist hope for the future. Of course, none of this means that a comeback for organized labor is inevitable, or even likely. The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot's canonical work of modernist verse, famously declares April "the cruelest month" because springtime awakens appetites it cannot satisfy, offering illusory visions of renewal to a land destined to remain desolate. Maybe the hopes conjured up this spring will prove mere mirages rather than actual heralds of a revitalized movement. We certainly can't delude ourselves that this little spate of good news suggests we're out of danger. The term "cli anger" originated with the serialized print fiction of the Victorian era. But it was in the medium of motion pictures, with their unprecedented powers of depicting physical action and peril, that the device of the cli anger really reached its apotheosis. An episode ends with our hero dangling from a precipice, ensuring the audience shows up for the next episode to see if and how he manages to extricate himself from his dire situation. Here's our cli anger: The fate of organized labor dangles on the brink of catastrophe. In this instance, however, the purpose of the device isn't to ensure that you read the next installment in a later issue of this magazine. As the rank-and-file teacher uprisings demonstrate to us, labor's survival depends upon folks showing up as participants, not as audience members. Whether that participation takes the form of attending union meetings, voting in elections, running for office, serving on CONTINUED FROM PAGE 13 GET TING ORGANIZED committees, reporting contract violations or helping to organize your non-union jobs, your taking ownership of your union is vital. This spring has offered hopeful harbingers, but without members playing active roles, the labor movement is unlikely to survive the long winter that besets us. f Harrison and Gaines Join Guild's LA Staff The Editors Guild has added two new hires to its Los Angeles office. Joining the staff are Travis Harrison as Field Representative, and Harolena Gaines as Administrative Assistant to the Field Representatives (which also include Jacky Olitsky, Ann Hadsell, Jessica Pratt and Olie Amarillas). "Travis and Harolena will be great additions to our team," commented Scott George, the Guild's Western Executive Director, in announcing the hires. "Travis has been a Guild member for 23 years, working as an assistant editor, while Harolena comes to us from Entertainment Partners, and her background with motion picture industry benefits and payroll administration, as well as knowledge of industry contracts, will be beneficial in assisting the Field Rep staff." Harrison started off in the industry as a driver for Soundelux in the early 1990s, then transitioned to the film vault at Paramount Studios in 1995. From there he went on to become an apprentice editor and an assistant editor. He comes from a family of post- production members: sister and music editor Jessica Harrison, brother-in-law and recordist Ryan Wordell, and father and post- production executive Hal Harrison. He looks forward to using his experience in his new role at the Guild, helping fellow members navigate their employment rights and benefits under the Collective Bargaining Agreements. A motion picture industry professional with nine years of experience in contribution processing, payroll and pensions, Gaines has acquired the skills, knowledge and training to effectively problem-solve and multi-task, as well as to both establish and maintain workflow efficiency. In addition to Entertainment Partners, she worked for the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans and studied business management and accounting. f Travis Harrison. Harolena Gaines.