The Ringer is Live

Ewing Theory is bullshit.

Should be the Dale Murphy Theory.

 

Ouch

 

The Ringer is now unionized and will be represented by the Writers Guild of America

The letter: Digital Writers Union | Ringer Union

The twitter: Ringer Union (@RingerUnion) | Twitter

Haven't seen any responses from Bill Simmons on these developments yet.

 

Yep, these are my scabs.

 

I so love that word.

 

Simmons used "yup" — not "yep" like all right-thinking people use.

I have trained my girls well.

 

Curious what this means for crossover talents, they have a lot of “contributors” who wear other hats that could be cast as management by a clever organizer.

Example, the guy who does the wrestling podcast and Press Box is also the art director. Wheres a union fall on his title? Does he get paid for the pods or they all fall under one umbrella? Does he have to stop doing the pods if he’s not in the union, like how certain unions forbid “management” from fixing a toilet etc?

A former wrestling pod co-host said he was never paid. Would a union forbid all non-paid pod “guests?” Who defines whats a “co-host” and whats a “celeb” or “guest”?

Seems a lot more complex that just we’re a union give us a raise

 

I bet they never thought of that.

Back to the drawing board!

 

Slightly related, there's a case in my state where the courts are going to determine whether the graduate student teaching assistant at the university are employees — which means they can unionize — or students first and employees second, which means they can't unionize.

If Barstool or the Ringer can classify almost all workers as freelancers or contributors, they're probably fucked as far as forming a union.

 

I should have used Google

 

Who makes it into a bargaining unit is not an easy question and it just because an employer pushes back or seeks clarity on those definitions does not make them anti-union.

As to the podcast guest thing, it is interesting. I know that many radio and podcast regular guests don't get paid because they do it to raise their own profile and/or as a favor.