Unions could have been stars ofWellywood saga
Thanks to the revelations from numerous former employees and some superb reporting in the media, we found out recently that all is not as it seems inside Wellington’s multimillion-dollar film and special effects industry. After allegations of sexual harassment and bullying at both Weta Digital and Weta Workshop, two owners of Weta Digital heeded a call from Workplace Relations Minister Andrew Little and will hire a female QC to hold an independent inquiry.
Sometimes the odd disgruntled employee can make unfounded accusations, especially if a company is successful. But in this case, there seems to be a lot of evidence. The Weta owners must be applauded for acting on Little’s suggestion, but I can’t help thinking that much of this trouble could have been avoided if unions were allowed to be involved in the workplace, as they are in almost every other section of New Zealand’s economy.
Unions are not free of sexism and bullying themselves, but try to have a ‘‘Porn Friday’’, as Weta Digital is alleged to have had, in a highly unionised workplace, such as the staffroom of a secondary school, and you would have the PPTA (Post-Primary Teachers Association), as well as management, shutting you down immediately.
In most workplaces, if you are bullied or harassed, and you don’t feel management will take you seriously, you can call the union. The cliche´ one would find in Hollywood blockbusters is that the evil union rep comes in and closes everything down. But this is rarely the case. Unions can often help employers prevent workplace disputes and improve health and safety.
The owners of Weta and many other global companies involved in the New Zealand film industry would argue that the people who work for them are not permanent employees but contractors. And, technically, they would be right.
Contracting is a fantastic way of operating when you have a short-term project such as a single film. The employer is not burdened with hiring permanent staff, and contractors’ rates are generally higher than a salary. If contractors are good and there is work, they can make an excellent and stimulating living from project to project.
Yet at places like theWeta stable, the ‘‘contractors’’ work for only one employer. Yes, they work on different projects, but essentially as full-time employees – in spirit if not in law. The reason is the ‘‘Hobbit Law’’ by which, under pressure from Warner Bros, John Key’s government passed a law to ensure workers in the film industry could not be deemed employees. This essentially meant they could not unionise. So, for example, if you were sexually harassed, the only thing you could do was go to your boss. Your workmates had no power to support you – there was no legal fellowship of the crew.
In Opposition, Labour opposed the law and copped a lot of flak, being labelled ‘‘hobbit haters’’. When Labour became government, it looked at repealing the law. Coincidentally, just after the prime minister spent a short time meeting two owners of Weta Digital, Labour decided against repealing the law and instead brought in measures including collective bargaining and arbitration.
The Council of Trade Unions described as ‘‘fantastic’’ the package that ensured unionisation of film crews was forbidden, as was the right to take industrial action. For those worried about continuing bullying and sexual harassment in the industry, think of the Government’s new rules as #me2.5 rather than #metoo.
I suspect the Weta inquiry may well lift the lid on some bad behaviour and management. I also suspect the worst of it has probably stopped already. No-one disputes that Wellywood employers pay their staff well, and there is an enormous supply of talented peoplewho dream of working there. But that dream seems to have turned into a nightmare for some vulnerable staff. And money isn’t everything.
Even now, I hear stories from big-budget overseas productions: a female staff member being horribly bullied in front of large crews too scared to speak up; awoman who questioned a technical decision by a superior being summarily fired even though she was later proved right; long-planned (unpaid) summer holidays having to be cancelled at the last minute due to extra urgent work; and lunch breaks delayed by hours because a superior wasn’t happy with the crew’s work.
I always thought it was our stunning scenery and good film crews that attracted overseas productions here. Iwould hate to think that one of the reasons was because our industrial rules make it possible to behave in away that simply wouldn’t be tolerated in Los Angeles, London or Vancouver.
The government contributes, by way of generous tax rebates, an enormous sum to bigbudget film productions. Let’s hope former trade unionist Little keeps a close eye on the Weta inquiry and makes sure our tax dollars create jobs that not only pay well but respect the human rights of those who carry them out.
... think of the Government’s new rules as #me2.5 rather than #metoo.