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Options From Union Let Writers On Soap Operas Go Back To Work

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By LYNN SMITH, Los Angeles Times

Published: January 3, 2008

HOLLYWOOD - When talks broke down last month between the studios and striking writers, it began to hit home that scribes could be jobless for many months to come. One of those writers finally made the agonizing decision to stop picketing and go back to work.

The writer's show, a daytime soap, had run out of scripts. To that writer, the moral choice lay in keeping the show on the air.

"Daytime serials are not in a healthy situation," said the writer, who asked for anonymity, fearing fallout from both sides in the complex, highly charged standoff. "If we can keep shows on the air, I perceive it as something that needs to be done for the future generation of writers."

Although most daytime writers have joined their colleagues on the picket lines, others - fearing for their jobs or the survival of the soap genre altogether - quietly have gone back to work. Even those who are still picketing say soap writers' issues are unique.

Residuals, for instance, a key area of disagreement between the studios and the Writers Guild of America, are not an issue for soap writers because their shows rarely are rerun. Instead, their interests tend to focus on health and pension benefits and minimum salary for the Internet, one place where the genre - whose audience for the daytime perennials has been dwindling - possibly could survive.

The specialized world of soap operas creates unique situations during Hollywood's periods of labor unrest; it's believed that during strikes in the 1980s, scab writers were hired to keep the soaps going.

Some writers currently on strike say producers have tried to lure them back with promises of anonymity. And because the estimated 110 daytime writers are spread out geographically, many working at home, it would be relatively easy to keep such deals quiet.

Others, such as the writer quoted above, are starting to take advantage of a little-known inactive status known as "financial core" that allows union members to return to work without censure.

"You resign your membership but continue to pay dues," the writer said about the financial-core designation. "They the guild still represent you. You still have your health care, your pension. It's absolutely fair. You remain involved in the protections that the union offers, and you support them financially. There are many reasons people make that decision."

The WGA would not disclose the number of members who've opted for financial-core status.

"We don't think it's an issue, but since this is an internal matter, we choose not to comment," guild spokesman Gregg Mitchell said.

To encourage more writers' interest in the financial-core option, the studios' representatives placed a Q&A list about the process on the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers Web site.

According to this site, members do not have to do anything to seek financial-core status. They simply choose to work, and the WGA has no right to impose discipline.

However, a WGA site said members must resign first in writing. It is not necessary to prove financial hardship. Financial-core writers may no longer vote or run for office. They also may continue to work without formal repercussions, and the union continues to represent them in bargaining negotiations.

Some might choose financial-core status because they need an income, others because they disagree with the union's politics.

More writers might consider the "fi-core" alternative, as it is called, if the strike stretches out.

"In a month, things could change dramatically," said Bob Guza, the head writer and producer on "General Hospital."

So far, the networks have continued showing original episodes of soaps. One reason is many shows had been stockpiling scripts for almost a year in preparation for the strike.

Another, and one hardly anyone wants to talk about, is that the networks apparently have replaced striking writers with nonguild members, producers, scabs and "fi-core" writers. Viewers have yet to see or judge the work of the replacements, but some say that the stockpiled scripts soon will run out.

Depending on the show, that could be anywhere from a few weeks to two months from now. A "General Hospital" writer said that the last team-written script aired last week and that the last team-created story line began airing Friday.

Karen Harris, a "General Hospital" writer who serves on the WGA daytime committee, said she had turned down offers to work on potential Internet soaps after she learned they were not covered by the guild. But writer Rick Draughon ("Days of Our Lives") took NBC up on an offer to create "Coastal Dreams," an original Internet soap. Draughon took the job even though he won't get benefits.

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