Strike (Updated 9/11)
wulijohyunjae | September 3, 2010 | 4:00 pm
We’ve been keeping an eye on the current critical situation in the Korean entertainment industry.
(The following contains extracts from the Korea Herald, the Korea Times, and korea.sohu.com.)
August 30, 2010
Korea Artist Union for Broadcasting, Film and Performances will “refuse to work” for 13 television dramas that are currently airing, unless the three major broadcasters ― KBS, MBC and SBS ― settle an outstanding balance of over 4 billion won from the last two years.
Moon Je-kap, a union official, said on Sunday, August 29, that more than 400 actors and actresses, as well as numerous other union workers like make-up artists and sound engineers, who have been working for TV shows that are produced by outside companies for major public broadcast corporations have not been paid their wages since 2008, totalling an estimated 4,368 million won.
The boycott decision was made on August 27 in an emergency meeting of board of representatives. The body will hold a press conference on September 1 to release all schedules they are firmly rejecting to participate.
Dramas likely to be affected are KBS2′s popular “Baker King, Kim Tak-gu,” SBS’s ‘”Giant,” “I am Legend,” and MBC’s “Gloria,” and “Kim Su-ro. ”
September 1
Members of Korea Artist Union for Broadcasting, Film and Performances are refusing to work for 10 MBC and SBS drama shows effective immediately, as the two major broadcasters failed to settle an outstanding balance of over 3 billion won from the last two years, a union representative said at a press conference on Wednesday, September 1.
According to Korea Communications Commission, the three broadcasters — KBS, MBC, and SBS — together recorded a net profit of 167.7 billion won in 2009.
KBS, the biggest of the three major Korean television networks that owed the union members over 1 billion won, agreed to pay the balance just three minutes before the press conference. The unionized actors and actresses will continue working for the four currently-airing KBS shows, including its hit drama series “Baker king, Kim Tak-gu.”
September 2
SBS is willing to seek a compromise settlement. They have agreed to the terms set by the union and promised to pay all back wages within a certain time. They have also guaranteed there will not be any relapse of the situation in the future.
As are result, SBS dramas like “My girlfiend is a nine-tailed fox”, ”Giant”, and “I am Legend” can continue to broadcast.
September 3
MBC is still standing firm. They even accuse the union of disrupting the entertainment industry and have absolutely refused to compromise.
As of today, workers have walked off the sets of “Dong Yi” and “Gloria”, so these two dramas have stopped production with immediate effect. If no agreement is in sight soon, other MBC dramas like “Naughty Kiss” and “Kim Su-ro” will follow the same fate.
UPDATE
September 6
The Union announces at noon that the production company for “Dong Yi” has agreed to immediately pay actors’ overdue salary as well as pre-pay their salary to prevent a repeat of salary arrears. So the strike that started on September 3 has ended for “Dong Yi”.
But the Union stresses that resumption of work on “Dong Yi” does not mean they have come to an understanding with MBC which has from the beginning steadfastly refused to negotiate. So workers on other MBC dramas will continue their strike.
FINAL UPDATE
September 11
Star News reports that the Korea Artist Union for Broadcasting, Film and Performances has finally reached an agreement with MBC regarding unpaid wages and other payment in arrears. Presumably all filming will resume and MBC dramas will air as scheduled.
Our concern
Why does this have to happen just as our Jo Hyun-Jae is making his comeback? How will this affect his first drama after his discharge? Perhaps it is just as well that his comeback work has not been announced. We hope he doesn’t sign with MBC. He may not even get paid if that’s the way they do business.
We think it is a good thing that this finally comes out in the open. The Korean entertainment industry, like so many other sectors, is cloaked in secrecy and obscurity. Many things are kept under wraps and are never openly discussed. We admire the union workers for their fortitude and we salute their courage in taking on the Big 3.
Just make sure our JHJ is not affected, OK?
(Credit: photo by ahiru of CarpeDiemJAPAN. Thanks!)
Let us pray the strike will not affect JHJ’s comeback!
I can’t understand MBC’s position – if work has been rendered then MBC is under obligation to pay the people for their time and effort.
I hope this problem is resolved soon. And I hope JHJ’s comeback will not be delayed or affected by this strike.
JHJ has to support his family. Besides, all persons must have their salary after they finish their works. Hope JHJ announces his first project(drama or movie) as soon as possible and can get reasonable pay.
From what I’ve learned from other sources, the point of contention between the Union and the networks is not the basic salary but the allowances (i.e. food, clothing and transpo). MBC’s position is that they’ve already paid their dues to everyone concerned, but the Union members are still asking for their allowances.
I am under the impression that food, clothing and transpo are all included in production budgets – this is the case in my country and, I assume, in other countries as well. Isn’t this the case in SK?