
Maddie Chang is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s Tech@Work, tech-related issues at play in Hollywood strikes bubble up; and footage from Amazon’s in-van surveillance cameras is leaking online.
In an LA Times editorial, columnist Brian Merchant draws the connection between Hollywood strikes and big tech. Merchant argues that two separate Silicon Valley-bred elements have added fuel to the ongoing Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA strikes: the streaming business model, and the specter of AI-generated scripts and performances. Studios have all started emulating Netflix’s business model, including its lack of transparency around viewership. In the old world of network TV, networks disclosed viewership numbers, habits, and ratings, which made it possible for actors and writers to value their work and receive residuals accordingly. In the streaming era, platforms are paying lower residuals to actors and writers than before, and are also refusing to reveal viewership information – leaving workers without the data that would be crucial to negotiating better wages.
Union members’ second tech-related concern stems from the potential to use generative AI to create scripts and on-screen performances. An article in Variety this week highlights how this might play out for background actors in particular. Background actors, or extras, account for up to 32,000 of SAG-AFTRA’s 160,000 person membership and are the lowest paid group within the union. Union members have spoken up about a practice wherein background actors’ images and likeness are scanned and then repurposed in another context without consent or pay (which also inspired a New Yorker satire this week). A background actor quoted in the Variety article asks: “If they have my image, and they can manipulate it any way they want, why do they need to hire me again?” The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the studios, has contested this characterization of how they intend to use AI. In any case, background actors are less protected than principal actors. In the union contract, producers must re-negotiate bargains with principal actors if they want to reuse footage. This provision does not cover background actors. At a minimum, the union is pushing for consent and compensation if background actors’ footage is repurposed.
Finally, as reported in Vice, there has been an unexplained uptick in anonymous posting of videos that appear to be from Amazon delivery van surveillance cameras. As the article notes, many of the videos were clearly not posted by the subject of the videos – they are recordings of surveillance footage taken from within Amazon delivery warehouses. When Vice separately reported on consent forms drivers had to sign that would enable biometric surveillance, Amazon clarified that the surveillance cameras were for safety only. But as this recent article points out, the leak of the videos highlights that what begins as a safety feature may take on other monitoring functions. This concern was at play in the recent UPS Teamsters agreement. One of five key demands was for no more driver-facing surveillance cameras in trucks. Teamsters were able to get a concession that ensures that surveillance footage will not be used for disciplinary purposes.
Daily News & Commentary
Start your day with our roundup of the latest labor developments. See all
September 24
UAW expands strike, files ULP against a Republican senator and hosts Biden on the picket line. NLRB ALJ issues first Cemex bargaining order.
September 22
Biden and Lula announce Partnership for Workers’ Rights; GAO clears Su to serve as acting Secretary of Labor indefinitely.
September 21
DHS policies for Venezuelan migrants; reduced arbitration fees under No Surprises Act; increasing religious objections to workplace DEI policies.
September 19
Canadian autoworkers continue negotiations with Ford’s operations in Canada, Trump announces a rally in Detroit next week with union workers, and talk shows backtrack on plans to return to air without writers.
September 18
UAW enters its fourth day of striking with plans to meet Stellantis at the negotiating table; 13 of the 14 bargaining units representing Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) will negotiate new contracts in the next six months; a Brazilian labor court ordered Uber to pay ~$205 million in fines for irregular working relations with app drivers; unions across many sectors press lawmakers to curb potential threats from artificial intelligence
September 17
Updates from UAW’s strike, Dartmouth College athletes file petition to unionize, visual effects artists at Marvel Studios unanimously vote to unionize, and California’s legislature passes a variety of pro-worker bills.