They Did It Again!
Filed under: MTV
Hundreds of employees at MTV, VH1, Nickelodeon and all the Viacom properties walked out again on Tuesday.
Click here to see pictures of all the protestors and their clever signs.
Frustrated workers are protesting for benefits and health insurance for the "permatemps" that have been at the company in some cases for years and aren't getting shit.
We're told that protests will be happening in Times Square every day this week outside the TRL headquarters at 3 P.M.
We encourage EVERY single Viacom employee to walk out and support your colleagues this week. Remember when you were temping there for a year or two without benefits????
Go out and lend your support! Everyone. Viacom employees, tourists, whomever.
Perez supports you!!!
Posted: December 11, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Re: Lynne – We get the idea from the law and the Declaration of Independence (you know we find these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness). It's all-American like apple pie and if you don't think so you should overthrow the government, as it is your right to do so. The people decided in something formally called "a law" that full-time employers (35+ hours per week, scheduled hours, scheduled location) with larger businesses are required to offer health benefits to their employees. It's just that this law is broken routinely by companies, especially in the entertainment industry. The employees of Viacom signed up for a deal x amount of compensation (money and benefits) for y amount of work, then Viacom changed the deal w/o warning last Thursday to x-z amount of compensation for y + 10 hours a week of work. So the employees decided not to agree to that, and they decided to be vocal about it together. They decided first they would try to renegotiate (or you can use the word demand, as in Viacom demanded they accept lower compensation or leave) through protest…
Corporations aren't required to take care of us. But then again, we aren't required to take care of them.
Re: normal person – Dude, you need a new job. The criteria you outlined, except the above average salary, is not even close to unreasonable. There are many successful companies that do profit doing just that.
I went to school with that guy!
funny to see him on here.
Really. Perez, you support us. Great, exactly what time will you be on the picket line. Until you are, what good are you? None. As usual.
Yea Sean!!! Shake that sign!
People who are saying quit or go buy health insurance are ridiculous!
If you went to college for this field and then worked your ass off to be in tv and finally got a job for a show and are working on one for a while and working hard you deserve benefits! because although working in tv might be fun it is ALOT of hard work and LONG hours .. I really would like to see some of you do this job especially the ones that alot of these temp/permalance people have! because i am sure they are the ones running their asses off from place to place and doing five million jobs and working crazy hours! So honestly Dont say quit and go work somewhere else(a real job? haha wow try a day in tv) because tv jobs are really hard to get its not like being a nurse or a teacher or working in some office they arent just everyday type jobs!
And go buy insurance? why should they? if you work any other types of full time jobs most of those jobs come with health insurance most 9-5 jobs you get health insurance..and working in tv you hardly ever work 9-5 its more like 12 hr days.
So i think all the people who have never worked in the industry just need to stop making comments because they dont understand. Hey it can be an amazing job but yeah it also has some big downsides to it that you have to stick with if you want to do something you really love. So I think its great that all the Freelancers/Permalancers got together and fought for their benefits
LOL….am i the only one who finds the first picture hilarious?
Uh, PARIS, Are you gonna get out there and support them?
Viacom has been screwing people for years. I'm glad people are walking out, because crippling the company's product is the only way they'll take notice. The folks on here who are talking out of their asses have no idea what it's like on the inside. I worked for MTV for 9 years and 6 of those years I was a "permalancer" without benefits. When I was hired, I was promised "staff" status after a year, and I waited 6 long years for it!
And to those who say "get another job and stop bitching" have no idea what it's like out there. I was laid off from MTV in 2005, and after 12 years in the entertainment biz, I *still* can't find full-time work. These companies know we're desperate for work, so they hire us on a freelance or temp basis because they know we have to pay rent and eat, but they will never pay for health insurance.
GO FOR IT SEAN G.!
Get a different job if you hate being a temp. Temp means you are either in an industry that can't have you year round or afford you. SO quit the temp job and go get your ass a DIFFERENT job. God- this isn't Russia.
#112 has a good point. they're in that position for a reason. do you poeple really think they're all idiots who think temps should get benefits? they mean they want to be full time staff like they were told they would be, and they were lied to.
I'm actually disappointed with the majority of comments left not supporting this walk-off; alike everyone else these people deserve benefits, and I feel terribly sorry for the little men. I honestly wish more people would support and take notice that large companies actually do take advantage, and it's absolutely terrible. Stop being a stuck-up jackass and support the lower hand.
I guarantee that "G" above works in some godforsaken cubicle and perez hilton is one of the few "creative outlets" he has. It makes him mad to know that there are people who didn't choose his cowardly route.
These people chose creativity over security. But now they are finally saying enough is enough! MTV is a corporate vampire that's been bleeding the creative young minds of America for years. I knew people who worked for MTV in Santa Monica back in the early 90s and they were complaining of the same work conditions. Every single one of them moved on…except for this one chick who married the lead singer of Blink 182…(she was the lucky one…but that's a different story).
The difference now days is that people are realizing that health insurance should be the right of every hard working American…not just reserved for the upper middle classes. I'm glad to know people are finally standing up to Viacom's corporate greed. How is MTV gonna spin this one on their next lame-ass "Choose or Lose" special?
I bet Gideon Yago's insurance pays for his pap smears.
Re: annoyed person –
Do you buy your own health insurance? Or does your daddy pay for it?
Re: brainchild –
And where the fuck do you work..brainchild?
Re: stevo – Pay for insurance out of pocket. Even when your employer 'pays' for it, it is in fact you paying for it in the end. I pay for it out of pocket myself and get a better plan than any employer offers for under $100/month. People's lack of planning and utilization of FREE public services is their problem. Everyone has access to free health care, most are just too stupid/lazy to seek it out.
Listen, MTV is cheap as hell. However, if the job sucks; LEAVE. believe me if they didn't have people willing to sit there for 2 years 'temping' they would add more benefits. The supply of people who can actually do those jobs far outstrips the demand, thus the minimal benefits. There isn't a company (big corporation or 'mom & pop' business) that doesn't screw their employees because they are EASILY replaced. (same reason writers are the least well paid; there are tons of people who can do it)
I bet they get fired.
Rally!
Re: Jade Brooks –
um no you are wrong.
they actually promised people a full time job with full benefits after one year of service, in writing. lots of folks left their full time jobs WITH benefits for these, simply b/c of the opportunity to work at MTV or Nickelodeon. The DO take taxes out and the DO treat you exactly like regular full time emplyees. It is nothing like a real freelance practice where you bill your client a day rate, and don't come in when you have other gigs lined up first. NOTHING like that at all.
This was a total bait and switch screw over.
QUIT! That'll show them.
Thanks for letting me know this. I am not watching any of VIACOms trash because of this. Plus, who watches MTV now days? all they have is trahsy reality shows…DONT STOP TILL YOU GET WHAT IS FAIR!!!!!
PS. MONEY HUNGRY CORPS SHOULD BE HEXED!
YES! IT's so friggen true! I worked for them… these people take ADVANTAGE Of their employees..it's disgusting! MTV cuts every corner to make a buck!
Re: stevo – I own and run a small renovation company. If I had to pay the insurance for every guy that started with me, then it would drive me out of business. Just for my small company, I have to hire an accounant, a tax lawyer, a payroll company, and pay ridiculous amounts of money for insurance, in case anyone gets hurt on the job. Luckily, that has not happened, but despite the many safety rules we have, someone always seems to do something stupid, and I'm the one who will have to pay. Government has too many rules. It is very hard to run a business and make any money. When all these new rules are applied, it's the small business that gets screwed.
Thanks to everyone out there with an opinion, and for listening to mine. These kinds of public discourses are actually good for us!!
The guy holding up the Sickelodeon sign is looking reallll nice.
well so much for the practice what you preach…I guarantee everyone one of those lib execs are voting democrat and swooning around Hillabitch talking about the rights of the poor etc in this country….What a load of crap…it's like everything you liberal fxcks propose…it's ok as long as you don;t do it to me or my company
Try working full time with children with developmental disabilities AND not receiving health benefits!!!!!!!!!!!!!
you people don't get it
Um Perez? Were you not just whoring yourself out for your little new years eve party for the same company that you are asking others to protest? Looks like you need to be slapped with the hypocritical bitch paddle this time.
wait…isn't that the main difference between FREElancers and full-time employees? Thought so. If they want the benefits, commit to a real position.
Um, what the fuck do you think freelance means? If you wanted to take a full-time job with benefits, you shouldn't have agreed to be a freelancer at MTV. Join a freelance healthcare plan and stop complaining, you are not entitled to shit. Idiots for taking the job that didn't offer benefits, you should have been up front, morons!
Health Insurance for $300? Where do you get that….or is it with a $10,000 deductable!
in the 2nd pic..who's the guy in the blue hat with the pin? he's hot. hook it up perez!
Good Day,
Sorry - no sympathy here. They chose to take a position with a compnay knowing full well the terms of the contract. If these benefis were so important then they should have looked for a job elsewhere where they are provided or negotiated inclusion in the contract. Healthcare may be a neccesity - but it is not a right.
Steelie
Um I don't know if any of you have ever worked in NYC, but that's how things work here. I work in advertising and same thing - long hours, low low pay. Why? Because there are thousands of other people who will take the job in a second for the experience and not complain. If you don't like it, quit and get a less interesting job and let those other people have their shot. Stop whining jesus.
May be if you losers stopped complaining and looked around you'd see there are thousands of companies out there that offer benefits. Just because you WANT to work for MTV to look cool or work on TV shows doesn't mean you have the RIGHT to get what you want. You have made a choice to work for low pay and no benefits because of decisions YOU HAVE MADE. Quit blaming everyone else and look at yourself and grow a backbone and find another job. If all of you losers have worked for these companies for years I think you have gained the necessary experience to go elsewhere. I personally think you are all lazy whiners who can't ask for a raise on your own so you have to create all of this drama to get your point across. Guess what? Viacom is probably already looking for new temps to replace you, so get on Monster now if you are smart. But I guess if you were smart you wouldn't be in this position, so . . .
I wanna make babies with that angry man.
These people who dont support the viacom freelancers walking out and protesting are absolutely ABSURD! We once got benefits after working there a full 52 weeks. Now they count your hours and you have to work a mandated 50 hours. And if you go from MTV, to Vh1 back to MTV, to Nick, whatever Viacom has you LOSE your benefits and have to start all over again.
I am in full support with all these people and am one of the people that walked out and will continue to do so. We just want to be treated fairly. We work ridiculously hard, bust our ass, and now we are getting no 401k ever unless your staff and other things. Give me a break!!!!! Sumner doesnt know what he's doing and he's just money hungry and wants more money in his pocket!!! LAME, inconsiterate GRINCH!!!!!!
everyone that moves to LA/NYC wants to work in entertainment, and the companies know that. so it's not right, but they take advantage of it. for everyone that quits, they'll have a thousand more willing to take that shitty ass job. the only way they would pay benefits is IF EVERYONE QUIT. but that won't happen. until then the cycle will continue…they will continue to ask for people with college degrees and one year experience, to work 12-14 hour days, 6-7 days a week for 500 dollars a week and people will still work those jobs. theres nothing else you can do if you want to be in entertainment, unless you are a trust fund baby and your parents pay your way in, and you are automatically acting or directing. HOLLYWOOD IS SICK!
eeesh, someone's got a stick up the tush
Re: noopurz – You are the idiot. They cut the benefits. What part of that do you not understand? The new "insurance" plan is really a "discount program" with a $25,000 yearly limit. And all of the other benefits - the time off, life insurance, tuition assistance, etc - all gone.
Re: You've got it wrong – You've got it wrong, too. I was not told that I was considered "freelance" until after I started work. And I am not a contractor (this is why I didn't realize that I was a "freelancer" until they told me a month later. I am w-2 - not 1099). Yes, I know that a freelancer is a contractor by definition, but not by the Viacom definition. My entire department is staffed with people who are "freelancers" - but we are required to work 40 hours, we do not have "control over the work" the way that a contractor does, and it's not a "gig." I have a desk job that is not connected with anything in television or music.
Re: brainchild – but you run a SMALL business. Small businesses are protected from having to provide insurance to their employees to encourage new business growth. Viacom employees 5,500 people full time and an estimated 5500 people as "temp/permalance". They make BILLIONS of dollars a year. They are publically traded… They do not NEED government assistance in the form of expense relief.
Re: papa bear – Well, you obviously benefit from being a man under the age of 40, who's insurance is on average 40 % cheaper than a woman's insurance for identical coverage. No it's not because we might get pregnant, because if you want insurance that covers pregnancy (and abortion), well that's like 4 times the cost of a man's insurance.
sean gresens is my hero! and he's cute! and one time he pooped in my mouth!
as a former nickelodeon perma-lancer i am in full support. perma-lancers are truly some of the hardest working people in viacom and have been slighted for years! GET UP, STAND UP!