Sandra Hale Schulman
Special to ICT

It’s going to be a long hot summer for the striking writers of television and films.

A nationwide strike by the Writers Guild of America over working conditions and pay is already raising questions about how long Native-centric productions such as “Reservation Dogs,” “Dark Winds” and “Rez Ball” can continue if the strike goes on for months.

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Diné writer Sierra Ornelas is among those who have been on the picket line. She was co-creator of the series, “Rutherford Falls,” and oversaw a writers’ room that included four other Indigenous writers – Tazbah Chavez, Tai Leclaire, Jana Schmieding and Bobby Wilson.

Having five Indigenous writers for a series is believed to have been a first for a major television production, and her deal with Universal Television was renewed in August 2021.

“We really want to ensure the future of this job, the future of this business for the writers coming up,” Ornelas told ICT by phone from Los Angeles about the decision to go on strike.

“Television is a writer’s medium. I think that over the last few years our power has been taken from us. And I’ve been writing for television for 10 years, and I’ve seen over time the budgets have gotten smaller for writers. The ability for a writer to be on set or to stay on through the entire production is less.”

With the exception of late-night shows, which went off the air immediately, viewers may not notice anything amiss for a while, since networks and streaming services have plenty of banked content.

Production has already wrapped up for the upcoming new seasons of “Reservation Dogs” and “Dark Winds,” with “Reservation Dogs” set to open Season 3 starting Aug. 2 on Hulu and “Dark Winds” returning to AMC and AMCPlus in July.

“Rez Ball,” a new film about basketball backed by LeBron James, is set to be filmed this summer in New Mexico.

Reality shows, news programs and some of the scripted series made by overseas companies are unaffected by the strike, and most of the movies scheduled for release this year are past the writing stage.

Ornelas, however, said the strike could last months and the delays will pile up, but she believes the writers are making fair demands.

“Being a writer in television right now has changed drastically over the last five years,” Ornelas said. “Ironically, that’s been the years where more Native writers than ever have been staffed for television. It’s pretty ironic; they started letting brown and Black people make television right when they decided to stop paying us.”

‘Until something changes’

The Writers Guild of America, which represents 11,500 screenwriters, went out on strike May 2, with writers for studios, streaming services and networks walking picket lines coast-to-coast.

It looks to be several months before a new deal is made with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers, and is likely to affect the Emmy Awards, scheduled for Sept. 18, and possibly delay the fall TV season.

The WGA has vowed to stay on with the strike for as long as it takes.

“The first week has shown, I think, just how committed and fervent writers’ feelings are about all of this,” Chris Keyser, a chair of the WGA negotiating committee, said in an interview with The New York Times. “They’re going to stay out until something changes, because they can’t afford not to.”

The writers want more money and more job security, especially regarding residual payments they get from streaming services, which have expanded to markets overseas. Prior to streaming, writers, directors, actors, and other creatives received residual payments whenever a show was licensed for syndication, for an international deal or for DVD sales.

Now that the streaming era is changing rapidly and DVD sales have slowed, the big streaming companies are reluctant to license their hit series, allowing them to keep subscribers and cut off those who benefited from the outside distribution.

The WGA has put forth proposals for mandatory staffing and employment guarantees. In what is called a miniroom, studios hire a group of writers to develop a series and write a few sample scripts in a few months. But by not officially ordering the series, the studios pay writers less than if they were in a traditional contract for a series.

With just a two- or three-month job, writers are then immediately looking for the next job if the show doesn’t get picked up. If a show does get optioned, fewer writers are hired since the outline and several scripts have already been written.

Writers also want companies to agree to guarantee that artificial intelligence will not take away from writers’ credits and compensation.

The strike has even caught the attention of President Joe Biden. During a White House screening for the film, “American Born Chinese,” which features Native Hawaiians, Biden called for the major studios to come up with a “fair deal” for striking writers during the event honoring Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

“Nights like these are a reminder of the power of stories, and the importance of treating storytellers with dignity, respect and the value they deserve,” Biden told CNN. “We need the writers, and all the workers, and everyone involved, to tell the stories of our nation and the stories of all of us.”

‘We’re not messing around’

Ornelas said she learned on the job, and wants to preserve that right for up-and-coming writers.

“I went to every production meeting, I was on set every day of my episode, and sometimes for other people’s episodes,” she said. “Coming from a weaver family, [Ornelas’ mother is award-winning Grey Hills Navajo weaver Barbara Teller Ornelas] you learn from your elders. You learn from the people who came before you how to do the job, so that you can one day teach younger people how to do the job.”

She continued, “What’s been happening is due to budget cuts, writers have not been allowed to learn on set how to do production, how to become showrunners, which is the job that I have. And so when and if they get their own shows, they’re going to be woefully unprepared for the job.”

The two sides are very far apart now, and Ornelas sees a long haul ahead.

“I hope that they come back to the table soon, make a deal with us,” she said. “I think that what we’re asking for is very fair. You see some of these CEOs of these companies making $250 million a year, which is half of the total amount that we’re asking for 12,000 writers.”

She said writers are a key component of a successful production.

“When you think about it, it all really starts with the writer,” she said. “The construction worker can’t build a set, the costume designer can’t pick the clothes. The actors can’t be cast until we fill up a blank page, until we write the scripts.”

She continued, “We’re dealing with big, streaming corporations and they’ve never had a great history of being kind to labor. But I do see a lot of solidarity, which has been amazing. We have the Screen Actors Guild, the Directors Guild, and the Teamsters behind us, as they are all experiencing the same problems.”

Pressure is building for the studios to negotiate, Ornelas said.

“Right now we’re trying to shut down productions and slow them down to get them back to the table,” she said. “I’ve been on the picket line and the mood is really enthusiastic. I think everyone that is there, they understand why we’re there. The union is more unified than it’s ever been. The strike authorization vote was almost 98 percent, the highest it’s ever been, the highest turnout.

“Everyone is really hungry to get a good deal and to really express to these studios that we are in business and that we’re not messing around.”

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Last week’s monthly job report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics was better than expected, but another recent report from the bureau shows rural America still has a way to go to get back to pre-pandemic employment levels.

In April the bureau released its annual average employment report for 2022. As the name implies, this report takes jobs data for the entire year and produces a single average employment number for each county in the U.S. This data provides a longer-term view than monthly reports of how the American economy is performing for working people.

The good news is that rural America added nearly 738,000 jobs in the last two years. The bad news is that these gains didn’t completely offset the 953,000 jobs rural America lost during the first year of the pandemic.

In 2022, there were 1.1% fewer jobs in rural counties than there were in 2019. Metropolitan counties had on average about 1% more jobs last year than before the pandemic.

There are important regional variations on these general trends. But on average, job prospects were more limited in rural counties.

• Rural counties had 215,00 fewer jobs in 2022 than in 2019.
• Six out of every 10 rural counties had fewer jobs in 2022 than in 2019.
• A majority of metropolitan counties (56%) had more jobs last year than three years ago.

Regional Variation

• States in the Northeast, Great Lakes region, and the Great Plains had a higher percentage of rural counties that lost jobs.
• Other regions with a larger proportion of counties with job losses were along the Texas border and gulf, the Black Belt South, coastal California, and parts of the Rocky Mountain West.
• Fourteen states saw gains in metropolitan employment while losing jobs in rural counties.
• States with the biggest negative gap between metro and rural employment change were Colorado (metropolitan employment grew 3.6% while rural employment fell 4.2% for a gap of 7.8 points) North Dakota (metropolitan employment grew 3.8% while rural employment fell 3.6 points, for a gap of 7.4 percentage points), and Texas (metropolitan employment grew 5.5% while rural employment remained flat, for a gap of 5.5 points).

Variation by County Types

• Counties in medium-sized metropolitan areas (250,000 to 999,999 residents) had the biggest growth in jobs, at 1.3% for 2022 compared to 2019.
• The suburbs of major metropolitan areas (1 million or more residents) were a close second with a 1.1% gain in employment.
• The core counties of major metropolitan areas and small metropolitan counties (under 250,000 residents) had growth in jobs since the pandemic, but just barely. The core counties of major metros saw job growth of 0.6% while small metros employment grew 0.3%

Monthly Job Gains

The most recent county-level monthly job reinforces the prospects of slow job recovery in rural counties. Rural counties added about 85,000 jobs in February 2023 compared to the previous February, a gain of 0.4%.

Definitions: Major metros have 1 million or more residents, Medium metros have 250,000 to 999,999 residents, Small metros have under 250,000 residents. Nonmetro areas are counties that are not within a metropolitan statistical areas (OMB 2013). Nonmetro is used synonymously with rural in this analysis. Core counties are the central counties of metropolitan areas, generally containing the areas' major cities. Suburbs are metro counties lying on the periphery of these metro areas.

The post Rural America Added 738,000 Jobs in Last Two Years but Still Falls Short of Pre-Pandemic Employment appeared first on The Daily Yonder.

On Friday afternoon, the Charlottesville Emergency Food Network’s small distribution center was packed with dozens of food orders and families lined up out the door.

Volunteers say the demand for the small pantry’s services has nearly doubled since early March, after the federal government ended the emergency increases it had been giving to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly food stamp) recipients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re getting a lot more people,” said Dana Eastman, a volunteer food distributor. “We went from about 12 to 15 — we have 26 today.”

And the folks arriving appear ever more desperate, said Diane, another volunteer who did not give her last name. People have started showing up early for pickup, concerned that there will not be enough food — even though all customers register in advance and are guaranteed a bag with a three-day food supply.

Other area food pantries are experiencing a similar need.

It’s a sign, pantry workers say, that the emergency COVID-19 funding was addressing a need that has not gone away.

But the SNAP emergency allotments were only meant to be temporary. The increase was part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act of 2020, which directed the U.S. Department of Agriculture to max out every SNAP receipt’s benefits “due to pandemic related economic conditions.”

During that time, businesses and schools were closing for the country-wide lockdown, causing many people to lose hours or jobs entirely.

That was certainly the case in central Virginia. Data from local SNAP offices show the number of people in Albemarle County receiving food assistance increased nearly 60% from pre-COVID February 2020 to February 2023. That’s 4,175 to 6,561 people. In Charlottesville, the number of recipients increased by about 30% during that same time period: 3,898 to 5,117.

The reasons people cited were pandemic-related job losses, reduced hours and illness. Basically more people applied due to lack of income, jobs, and/or illness, said Blair Smith, a training supervisor with the Charlottesville Department of Social Services, which distributes SNAP benefits to city residents.

While those issues are no longer as pressing, they’ve been replaced by stubbornly high inflation that brings with it higher food, housing and electricity costs.

“We needed the SNAP [emergency allotments] so badly,” said a woman waiting to pick up a three-day food supply for her family of five from the Emergency Food Network. “We are stretching our dollars for everything, not just food: rent, gas and all the other necessities. We wish [the government] can come up with something more for us. It is hard and we are struggling to make ends meet.”

The allotments also brought to light the number of people who do not qualify for enough food assistance under the normal guidelines to feed their families — and never did.

Loaves and Fishes, a large pantry near Albemarle High School, is seeing the return of people who have not visited during the last two years, said its executive director, Jane Colony Mills. She said it’s a sign that people receiving the COVID-19 allotments were able to purchase all the food they needed. And, without the allotments, they can’t.

The allotments did not affect every SNAP recipient the same. Because the program temporarily gave each recipient the maximum amount of money possible for their household size, the increases varied widely.

William Marshall, an Albemarle County resident, said his benefits dropped by about $25 per month when the allotments stopped. A Charlottesville woman waiting at the Emergency Food Network said her benefits dropped from $200 to $77. Another said her benefits went from $300 to $23.

“When I’ve asked people if they get SNAP, many times I’ve heard, ‘Yeah, $16 a month,’ which means they hardly feel it’s worth the effort to apply,” Colony Mills said.

Broadly, Colony Mills said she’s now seeing more families with small children. Smith, with the Charlottesville Department of Social Services, said households with elderly, blind and disabled recipients seemed to have larger increases in food assistance during the pandemic.

The woman whose benefits dropped to $77 is disabled and caring for another disabled adult and three children.

“I have nothing in my house right now,” she said, while waiting at the Emergency Food Network. “I am eating beans out of a can right now, trying to piece together a meal each evening using whatever we can find.”

It is impossible to predict whether the continually improving job market will enable families to become more food secure, but pantries like Loaves and Fishes and the Emergency Food Network are settling in for a long time with more people needing their help.

And they say they’re prepared to handle the new demand.

“We have a clear message: No one needs to go without food,” said Zachary Nissen, director of programs for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, which provides food to the pantries. “We are well stocked and prepared to provide food to anyone who needs it.”

If you need emergency food, you can find operating food pantries in your area at this link.

Loaves and Fishes distributes food Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Visit this link for more information about when and how to pick up food.

The Emergency Food Network distributes food by appointment Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Click here for more information.

Both pantries, and the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, accept donations on their websites.

Jessie Higgins contributed to this story.

The post Food pantries see usage soar after government cuts pandemic-era emergency benefits appeared first on Charlottesville Tomorrow.