Reality Woes Add to Scribe Strike

Studios deny overtime, meal breaks to reality TV writers, guild says
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 24, 2007 4:15 PM CST
Reality Woes Add to Scribe Strike
Singer Alicia Keys performs for thousands of Writers Guild of America (WGA) writers before they marched down Hollywood Boulevard on Tuesday in Los Angeles on the 16th day of the strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)   (Associated Press)

With negotiations in the Hollywood writer's strike coming Monday, a new survey shows that writers for "unscripted" TV are denied overtime pay and meal breaks, the Los Angeles Times reports. Reality TV is a major sticking point in the strike, as studios insist that writers be classified as editors and story producers.

The survey, commissioned by the Writer's Guild of America, claims that reality TV writers worked an average of 16 hours a week in unpaid overtime. "It's clear to us that the wage and hour violations are massive," said a guild representative. The union hopes the findings will boost efforts to persuade reality TV writers to organize. (More Hollywood writers' strike stories.)

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