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Chapter 133 The Third Labor Negotiation

"We are now quoting and buying through different New York Stock Exchange seats every day. The current buying price has not caused fluctuations in the stock price. The action of buying Coca-Cola stocks at a relatively low price has been successful so far."

The manager of Charles Schwab is very satisfied with Ronald as a VIP customer. Compared with those speculative traders who do short-term trading or compete for reverse fluctuations at the opening of the market every morning, Ronald buys hundreds of dollars every day.

Wan's trading strategy requires almost no stock broker, and even an intern can do it well.

Although it has dropped by nearly 25% from its peak, Coca-Cola still has a market value of more than 10 billion U.S. dollars. Such a buying order of more than 20 million yuan, if bought slowly, will not cause any trouble at all.

"Very good, you should be more cautious in your operations, so that you can buy more shares when the price is low." Ronald was very satisfied with the professionalism of Charles Schwab, and he could still transfer some money to buy here in the future.

"Don't worry, we are the most professional on the West Coast. We are not inferior to those financial institutions on Wall Street. We are even stronger in technology. We have technical analysis briefings generated by computer programs every day. It is free for big customers like you. You need to

Don't you need me to order one for you?" The manager was dissatisfied with this simple transaction and tried to sell more stocks to Ronald. Only brokers can make money by buying and selling.

"Hey, I don't understand that, just buy Coca-Cola. This stock has helped me make a lot of money in the past. I just like Coca-Cola."

"There are not many investors as dedicated as you, and I admire you very much." Charles Schwab's manager said nice things, but he was still thinking about how to get Ronald to buy more other stocks. In fact, it doesn't matter whether the customer makes a profit or loses when buying and selling stocks.

The important thing is to trade more.

Coca-Cola now has a price-to-earnings ratio of nearly 14 times. It is an ancient carbonated beverage industry and is being closely pursued by Pepsi. It has continued to decline in the first half of the year. Soon Ronald will not be able to bear the loss of this kind of wealth.

When the time comes, I will sell him financial consulting services.

"Hey, I need to take care of a little thing, please continue."

Ronald came out of the office where he was on the phone and continued talking to the visiting guests.

The visitor was David Horowitz, the owner of a public relations company in Hollywood. Through the relationship with Ronald's marketing consultant, Michael Gray, he found Ronald and came to ask for help.

Horowitz's name sounds like a Jew, and he looks a bit like him. His distinctive nose and bald head are all typical characteristics of Eastern European Jews. He was commissioned by television producers Linda and Harry Thomason.

, to talk about the item.

"Linda and Harrison are good friends of mine. They came to Little Rock, Arkansas, and I trusted them and I owed them a debt. I tried many ways, but Johnny Carson was the best person in American television.

He is a powerful man with the most ego, so I can only find ways to find help from everyone who can persuade him to let the governor of Arkansas appear on his show."

"You are the second person to come to me about this matter," Ronald looked at him. "Actually, I asked someone to find out that Carson is not willing to undermine the gatekeeper role of traditional media."

The so-called traditional media gatekeepers actually refer to people like Johnny Carson, the actual leaders in the journalism and media industries.

They are very conceited and believe that the general public does not know what news they should believe and are often led astray by false or biased news, forming prejudices that are harmful to society.

Media gatekeepers, such as news editors, producers, reporters, anchors (people like Carson, but also the Watergate exposer Bernstein) should be responsible for deciding what information deserves public attention and how to disseminate it.

To maintain the image of a media gatekeeper to the public, it is necessary to be impartial in the elections between the two parties. Therefore, Carson has always been very strict about the principle of not inviting politicians to talk shows, and the only exception is

The current leader, Ronald Sr., only appeared on Carson's Late Show in 1975 after he had resigned as governor of California.

Moreover, the commander-in-chief was originally from Hollywood and had served as a program host on a television station for many years, so he was considered half an industry insider. The governor of Arkansas was the current governor and had no connections in the media, so it was unusual for him to run into trouble with Carson.

"I just think it's unfair. He didn't have a fair opportunity to express his views in front of a national audience. Such a promising young politician should not have his future cut off by such an inexplicable broadcast accident."

"Humph..." Ronald found it interesting. Arkansas is a famously poor state. Many people on the east and west coasts don't know where this state is and who its celebrities are. But for such a governor, there are so many people in the media circle.

He is a very charming person who works tirelessly for him.

"Maybe you're right, but I can't be of much help. You may have heard that I have a good relationship with David Letterman, but you should also know that Letterman is not a suitable lobbyist."

Johnny Carson has a big ego and is difficult to talk to. David Letterman has also changed from his apprentice to the host of his show. Although the two have a good relationship, it is not convenient for them to interfere in each other's program arrangements.

There is a very subtle competition here.

Letterman's late-night show is already the second-best late-night talk show in America after Carson in terms of ratings. The best program among other TV stations is Ted Koppel's American Broadcast

The ABC news program "Nightline" is no match for Letterman.

Johnny Carson's ratings during prime time are twice those of Letterman's. However, the content quality of his show may not be twice as high as that of David Letterman's. Especially now that the writers are on strike,

The gap between the two is getting closer.

David Horowitz didn't know what to ask for. Harry Thomason and his wife may have helped the governor of their hometown because they were from the same hometown, but he received money to solve problems for others.

As a public relations person, it is his advantage to know many people, but for this kind of thing that breaks the rules of the TV station, he does not have such a powerful person in his network. Ronald may not be able to do anything, or he may not have enough interests to impress him.

He had no choice but to get up and say goodbye and continue urgent public relations.

"Why do you want to help him?" Ronald's voice came. "I rarely see people working so hard for a politician."

"He is a person who sincerely works for the people. He may have many shortcomings, but if you know him, you will be moved by his ambition." Horowitz heard that he was interested and quickly memorized the Thomassons' remarks.

once.

"Horowitz's public relations skills in Hollywood are not weak. You may be able to ask him for help during next year's awards season." Michael Gray was standing by to give support to this colleague. Many times, public relations companies and marketing consulting companies have to rely on each other.

helpful.

"Maybe..." Ronald thought for a moment. People with dreams are worth helping. "Maybe you can go find Gerald Slater from PBS and I will give him a call."

"I have looked for him, but Carson is famously difficult to talk to. I came to see you because I wanted to do my best. I still went back to find his show producer Fred DeCordova.

Try to arrange a meeting between him and the governor. Many people don't like him at first, but after meeting Bill, they can't help but be impressed by him."

Horowitz got up and left.

Ronald heard what he said was so interesting that he became somewhat curious about the governor. He had only seen such personal charm in the current commander-in-chief, but neither George Sr. nor his opponent Dukaski had it at all.

.

Ronald put this matter behind him, he had more important things to deal with. The Writers Guild strike has been delayed for too long, and it is time to end it.

The Producers Alliance held another meeting and invited all alliance members to attend to jointly resolve the issue of the strike.

"We got what we wanted." Nick Kuant, the president of the league, waved the contract document in his hand and asked his assistant to distribute a copy to everyone present. "The three main demands are to increase

We only let them get the bare minimum in terms of contract years, more creative freedom, and residual dividend rights for one-hour programming."

Ronald flipped through it, especially the demands of the three major screenwriters unions. In fact, there were no substantive differences in terms from the last negotiation.

It seems that the members of the Writers Guild can no longer hold on. The actors’ charity sale did not raise much funds. Compared with the Producers Union, the writers are the first to have income problems. Most members are not interested in it.

I regretted rejecting the agreement every time.

These producers did not make concessions as negotiator Walton promised, but insisted on holding on to the conditions. It seems that the screenwriters are not that irreplaceable compared to these capitalists. The producers are unwilling to make concessions.

They are willing to hire more foreign writers and let more non-union workers work.

Maybe these capitalists will really make them collectively unemployed. If they don’t get the freedom of creativity and the increase in dividend ratio, they will starve to death first, their wives will remarry, and their children will be beaten by their stepfather.

This time the other party refused to make concessions, which made everyone understand that this negotiator Walton, who said he was nice, had actually seriously misjudged the producer's bottom line, and he was used by him and became cannon fodder.

They united and passed a motion to cast a vote of no confidence in Walton. In this way, those extreme members who were still immersed in false dreams had no choice but to agree and propose a new proposal under the persuasion of the commander's commissioner.

The settlement agreement is a big step towards ending the strike.

Now the ball has been kicked to the side of the Producers Alliance.

Ronald looked around and saw that the faces of the small and medium-sized producers here showed joy. Many of them did not read the terms in detail. They hurriedly flipped through the important points and began to discuss with each other how many projects could be resumed after they were signed and approved.

advanced.

"It seems that we can't stand it anymore." Ronald handed the contract to the lawyer Kanter who came with him. He is the attorney for several producers here. After reading the contract, he nodded to his clients.

, which is acceptable.

Like the screenwriters, all the producers need is an excuse to get off the stage smoothly. After being suspended for so long, everyone can hardly stand it.

"Start voting now..." Nick Kuant began handing out ballots.

The results of the live vote count still failed.

Although the Producers Alliance has many members, each member has different voting weights on labor agreement issues. The seven major studios and the three major wireless TV stations produce the most programs, so they should have more rights in labor negotiations.

More rights to speak.

This is the case with this vote. Hardliners led by NBC and Warner Bros. are still unwilling to compromise on this. The last clause stipulates in the dividends that TV programs shorter than one hour can also participate in the dividends of international distribution.

This is the biggest loss for them. Other small and medium-sized producers and cable TV networks do not have much international distribution capabilities. Even if they agree to this, there will not be too many problems.

Wireless TV stations and Paramount and Warner in the Seven Network all have strong international distribution capabilities. If the red line of the minimum one-hour program duration falls, not to mention the dividends for screenwriters will increase significantly, and other creators' unions will also

The same terms will be required based on legal precedent.

Seeing that these big producers once again rejected the labor agreement, more than a hundred small and medium-sized producers and regional TV stations in the venue began to speak loudly.

This is a conspiracy of big manufacturers to use rules to further weaken the strength of these small TV stations and small studios. If there is a financial problem, they will buy them at a low price.

"Quiet, quiet," Nick Kuant struck with a wooden hammer, "the new collective bargaining agreement has not been passed."

Seeing that everyone was quiet, he took the opportunity to announce the result, "The second agenda item, the Board of Directors of the Screenwriters Guild, proposed another temporary motion. They can represent the screenwriters and sign a temporary agreement with each studio to give everyone now

Items in hand are exempt.”

Just like in the Producers Guild, everyone has their own evil intentions. The Writers Guild is also very divided.

Some committees, representing the interests of extremist members, stood with negotiator Walton and were determined not to compromise on the three major clauses, especially the one-hour minimum time limit for participation in overseas issuance of dividends involving financial interests.

But most of the members are already extremely annoyed by these extremists. No matter how harsh the terms are, they are still better than not having a job and living as a living wage.

They bypassed negotiator Walton and passed a temporary resolution on the union's board of directors, giving screenwriters who wanted to return to work the opportunity to negotiate individually with the production companies.

In other words, they no longer believed that any fucking union would represent their interests. They simply launched a vote and asked the board of directors, who understood the situation, to intervene in Walton. They knew that the minimum time limit clause was difficult to pass, so they went around it first.

It is true to save some money and tide over the difficulties.

"Agreed, passed..." People from more than a hundred small and medium-sized producers and small and medium-sized TV stations shouted out. The seven major producers and the three major public television stations are almost done. Everyone has to eat, and we can't lose all their jobs.

Isn’t it?

In the second round of voting, because it is a provisional agreement, only a simple majority is needed to sign it.

Soon, more than 150 alliance member units at the scene voted in favor. Warner, Paramount and the three major TV stations still opposed, but according to the temporary agreement, their objections were not binding. Soon small and medium-sized member units began to

Applause, although it is not the complete victory that we expected, it is just a one-month temporary agreement that has to be renewed when it expires, but we can finally get around this damn strike.

"Hurry up, let's sign a temporary agreement with the Screenwriters Guild quickly, and several projects can be resumed soon." Ronald was very happy, and quickly sent people to notify several production crews, so that screenwriters can be hired openly.

However, because a legally binding formal agreement has not been signed, the Writers Guild cannot stop the strike, so the strike continues.

However, small Hollywood producers still have a limited number of screenwriters employed, and the major television stations with the largest number of employees have not signed temporary agreements to resume work.

Most of the more than 9,000 Screenwriters Union members have not resumed work. They were very disappointed with the Producers Union and the union's negotiators, and they made a drastic move that no one expected.

The Writers Guild held a general meeting, demanding re-election of the board of directors, asking the new board of directors to remove negotiator Walton, and to take back his full power to decide terms in agency negotiations.

In addition, 18 large companies, including the seven major studios and several major television stations, that did not sign the provisional agreement and voted against the formal agreement were also sued by the screenwriters who took back the control of the board of directors.

.

"What is he suing them for? It's not illegal to oppose the agreement, right?" Ronald was confused when he heard the news.

"Antitrust..." Niceta, who was chatting with Ronald about the casting of a new film, spit out a term that made everyone in Hollywood shudder.

"Anti-monopoly? Are you going to throw away nuclear weapons?" Ronald was startled. Hollywood, which was still very prosperous in the 1950s, was hit by the anti-monopoly law and was unable to fight back by television.

"It's more like nuclear deterrence. Recently, a screenwriter ended his life because he couldn't pay for his child's college tuition and all his credit cards were overdrawn. So the members of the Screenwriters Guild wanted to drop a big bomb to get everyone to end it as soon as possible.

This farce.”

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