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Post by superclash on Jan 18, 2010 16:39:44 GMT -5
Really they are not, its a technicality; so they can't have a union.
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Post by vrjustin01 on Jan 18, 2010 17:00:01 GMT -5
Are actors independent contractors? One person with a skill, that is contracted to a film or a television series?
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Post by Back to being Cenanuff on Jan 18, 2010 17:28:44 GMT -5
Why independent contractors? Because everybody makes more money that way. Independent contractors can be told what to do, as long as the contract has provisions in it saying that the contractor must abide by a certain code of conduct. The contracts are obviously have exclusive performance provisions in them, otherwise they could go anywhere, and do anything. TNA's contracts probably have an exclusion in them that addresses the issue of non-televised performances, which is why you sometimes see TNA talent at indy productions.
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Post by The Deadly Snake on Jan 18, 2010 19:30:09 GMT -5
There's also an "industry" issue to this. Can a large majority of workers in the wrestling industry be considered independent contractors? I would think so, especially outside of the WWE.
WWE could argue it would be unfair or unequal to treat its workers as "employees" when workers outside of the WWE can be considered Independent Contractors.
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Post by Lair of the Shadow MaDaBa on Jan 18, 2010 20:28:50 GMT -5
But by the same token, there's the issue of treatability. If they are treating their independent contractors like employees and basically entrapping them into a certain method of behavior, that could be used against them. Isn't there some kind of "behavior unbecoming of a contractor" thing?
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Post by The Deadly Snake on Jan 18, 2010 22:16:49 GMT -5
I agree. They practically treat them like employees, but WWE, at the very least, gum up any decisive action against it.
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Post by BlackJackRobby on Jan 18, 2010 23:50:03 GMT -5
The only odd part about all of this...
Every other person that works for the WWE is part of a union!
The people that write the shows, to the people that set the rig up, and the secretary that answers the phone is in a union.
The only people that are not is the people that make the money that make everyone else usefull.
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Post by Seth Drakin of Monster Crap on Jan 19, 2010 0:32:14 GMT -5
Do I think WWE employees are independent contractors? No. Do I have the sources and research to make a compelling argument? No. So let's just leave it at that.
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Post by The Deadly Snake on Jan 19, 2010 0:33:33 GMT -5
The only odd part about all of this... Every other person that works for the WWE is part of a union! The people that write the shows, to the people that set the rig up, and the secretary that answers the phone is in a union. The only people that are not is the people that make the money that make everyone else usefull. Considering they are based in Connecticutt, this fact should surprise no one. Fighting an established union, as it has been proven before, is a fruitless economic endeavor. The best you can do is to PREVENT a union from coming into existence (which the WWE is trying to do, through labelling most of the workers as independent contractors). On top of that, I bet most of their office workers are probably working in the same place every night, probably at the WWE Headquarters. Having to deal with unions is not uncommon in the more urban areas of the USA.
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Post by Throwback on Jan 19, 2010 0:48:28 GMT -5
WWE has a pretty weak case, if you ask me, but no one has the willpower or the money to oppose their practice.
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