Posts by Brendon Mills
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Quite frankly the union bashing on here is very sickening. Why dont we just film the Hobbit in China? No pesky unions there. If the likes of Whipp come over they will be up against the wall before you can say 'one ring to rule them all'. Its a wonder Chris Trotter reacted the way he did.
Everyone goes on about wanting a high skill high wage workforce etc and so on, but we support an industry which is built on job insecurity low wages and long hours. Christ, every other industry does it, thats where the concept of casual labour comes in.Can you imagine Works EDI deciding to class all of its workers as indenpendent contrators (though one imagine that they would want to).
Im sure a lot of people here would gladly abolish unions and casualise and freelance the entire New Zealand workforce, and force wages down, but I will tell you, I want to be a full time employee,and I dont belive that any one should force that on me.
I consider it ironic, that the people on here, especially Mr Brown, who started out enjoying the benefits of union representation in the journalism sector want to pull up the ladder and deprive future generations of the job security and generous pay they enjoyed.
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And another thing, I love the LOTR trilogy, and it saddens me that those people who made those brilliant backdrop were paid less than the minimum wage
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First time poster, long time reader..
Quite frankly your takes on this dispute really disgust me.
All the actors and film workers want is the security and conditions that come with paid employment, I really dont see that is too much to ask.
Yes, there are some people who are happy as contractors, but not everyone wants that. Some people want a decent wage, breaks, sick leave and holiday entitlements, and they want to know that ACC is going to cover them if they get injured, like every other job in this country.
And I dont really see how the 'mexicans with cellphones' model of the film industry in this country is in any way beneficial. Shouldnt we all be entitled to some form of economic security, and to be treated with respect and dignity?
Ive tried being self employed and freelancing, etc,and I didnt like it. I decided that I would rather be an employee instead. Why should we deny that choice to some people because it is the film industry?
Quite frankly its Peter Jackson being unreasonable here. He really needs to pull his finger out and pay his film workers a decent wage and give them decent conditions, he can most certainly afford it. This low wage low conditions low job security model will only run down our living standards, and I think everyone needs to hand their heads in shame because of that.