Here's a great story with a Hollywood ending.
The last couple pages of my book Monopolized noted this fight against rapidly consolidating talent agencies, stuffed with private equity cash, who were getting rich while their own clients were losing money. (1/)
Unlike other parts of the economy where private equity pushes around workers, writers in Hollywood had a union. And the writers decided to leave their agents in protest. That story is here (from April 2019)
prospect.org/culture/privat…
The writers had two main concerns. First, "packaging" fees, where studios pay talent agencies a commission for employing their clients. This comes out of a show budget, so the agent was vying with their own clients over the same pot of money.
Second, agencies have been purchasing content, as their private equity owners have encouraged. So the agencies were becoming the bosses of their own clients, too, rather than operating in their best interest.
The combination of this created a situation where median weekly earnings of television writers and producers fell 23 percent between 2014 and 2016, at a time of “Peak TV” production.
So thousands of writers fired their agents nearly two years ago. And the business... went on. Writers networked and got jobs. They banded together and refused to re-sign. And late Friday, the Writers Guild signed a deal with William Morris Endeavor, one of the big 3 agencies.
The deal includes a "Strict 20% limitation on agency ownership of production entities," and "ends the practice of packaging by June 30, 2022."
The writers got exactly what they sought. WME, owned by PE firm Silver Lake Partners, was the last major holdout.
This is an amazing win that shows the power workers can have with collective action, even against concentrated, private equity-owned giants. It's a lesson that we don't have to accept the financialization and consolidation of our economy.
Obviously the Writers Guild a) was already a strong and organized union, b) had a creative product that made them essential workers. But that didn't stop the agencies from pummeling and atomizing them for years. Only when they used their collective power did they win.

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More from @ddayen

1 Feb
So I took a look at why Katie Porter got bumped from the Financial Services Committee, based on the makeup of the committee and the legislative output in the last Congress. It's very clear she was singled out and Maxine Waters is to blame. (1/)
prospect.org/politics/why-k…
First of all, Waters shrunk the committee from 60 to 54 members, creating the conditions for someone to be bumped.
Even with that, 4 committee Democrats lost or didn't run for re-election, another got 4 separate committee assignments, and another traded Financial Services for Appropriations. So there would be room.
Read 7 tweets
31 Jan
We won't have numbers until tomorrow but based on what's in here we can make some guesses. (1/)
Vaccine $ is defined at the $160bn level.
Substance abuse prevention: $4bn
"More targeted" payments probably at the $50k level that's been discussed, I'd guess least half of what's been proposed, let's say $200bn
extending UI "at the current level" i.e. $300, less than the $400 Biden calls for. If it's through Sept., that comes to $260bn
"fully funding your request" for nutrition assistance: $4bn + $6bn to extend the 15% increase to Sept. So $10bn
Read 7 tweets
29 Jan
Here's @alex_sammon on the early jockeying for position in 2022 Senate races. Will Schumer and the Dems pick more self-funders or stand-for-nothing candidates, or lean into the Ossoff/Warnock victories predicated on populism and organizing?
prospect.org/politics/are-d…
Then, we have @Marcia_Brown9 with another thing Biden can do on Day One (OK, Day Nine): allow DACA recipients to receive Medicaid or CHIP or purchase health insurance on the Obamacare exchanges, where they are currently barred. prospect.org/health/biden-c…
Also at @TheProspect today, here's a tribute to Hank Aaron from Derrick Jackson:
prospect.org/culture/hank-a…
Read 4 tweets
23 Jan
This is a very uninformed article that presumes the dumb way Trump initiated executive orders taints all executive action a president has the authority and mandate to undertake.
nytimes.com/2021/01/22/us/…
I can't believe this has to be spelled out:
Congress passes laws, presidents implement them. There are latent authorities in already passed laws that can be employed to give material benefits to people. That's literally the job description of the president in Article II.
Most of Trump's exec orders were BS but some did draw on already passed laws, like the farm funding through the Commodity Credit Corporation. That was billions of dollars that cannot be "rolled back."
Read 14 tweets
15 Jan
The Prospect and The Intercept have learned that Renata Hesse, a former Obama Justice Department official who then went on to work for Google and Amazon, is a leading contender to head up the DoJ Antitrust Division.
Among other things, Hesse would presumably have to recuse herself from the active monopolization case against Google, the biggest anti-monopolization case in 20 years.
Jonathan Kanter, a plaintiff's lawyer who helped design the cases against Google and Facebook, remains "in the mix" for the same job, sources indicate.
Read 5 tweets
15 Jan
Here's a good day of @theprospect content:
First, @Marcia_Brown9 on "social accountability": how in the absence of legal action against elites with power and influence, civic structures have taken up this responsibility prospect.org/politics/new-e…
Then, @alex_sammon on Prop 22, the California measure keeping Uber/Lyft/Doordash drivers as independent contractors. In just the first month, consumers are paying more, drivers are getting less than promised, and other businesses are taking advantage.
prospect.org/labor/prop-22-…
We have @Lfelizleon using the history of U.S. intervention in Latin America to help inform the Capitol Riot: prospect.org/politics/chick…
Read 4 tweets

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