So, I don't generally talk about unions a ton given my UBI emphasis on this blog, but I do support unions to some extent, I just don't believe they're an end all solution. And the Alec Baldwin incident is a good reason why. For those who don't know, Alec Baldwin apparently accidentally killed someone on set while filming a new movie by shooting her with a gun that was supposed to have blanks in it. It's unclear why the shot killed her, but there were a lot of reported incidents regarding a lack of safety while filming this movie.
While many film crews are unionized, there have been some issues with unions, and as a result, many normal workers have walked off of the set in response to this general lack of safety and were replaced by strike breakers. The person who was in charge of the firearms on this movie was not unionized.
It's been suggested that perhaps if they were unionized and those in charge of filming the movie took the lack of safety seriously, that perhaps this incident wouldn't have happened. Such is life under unrestrained capitalism. Corporations cut corners and safety is always a concern. There's a reason early factory workers regularly lost limbs. Obviously, we need workplace regulations, and unions to help even the playing field and allow workers to present their grievances to their employers.
Now, I've been mildly antagonistic toward unions on here before, and I want to clarify. Again, I'm not anti union, I just don't see them as an end all. The reason I am as I am is because I'm an indepentarian. I believe that freedom doesn't truly exist in capitalism unless people have a right to say no, not just to any job, but to all jobs. Unions, they might help improving working conditions, but they still tie people to work. It might makes work better, but it doesn't free people from it.
At the same time, UBI might not work here. UBI might allow anyone to walk off the set of a movie production, or any other job, but in and of itself, it doesn't necessarily improve working conditions. Ideally it gives people more bargaining power to get better working conditions, but these gains probably won't be fully realized without unions. That said, UBI and unions should probably work together. UBI gives people the freedom to say no, and unions give people the bargaining power to present grievances and improve working conditions. You need both. Not just one.
It really is a shame the safety issues on the set of this movie have come to this. They never should have come to this. We've been making movies for a century, surely we've figured out how to use guns on a set of a movie without killing anyone. Something was wrong here, and given there were rampantly bad working conditions here, it seems clear there were systemic issues at work that led to this workplace accident. Maybe if they actually listened to the union this incident wouldn't have happened.
That said, I stand in solidarity of unions. I do believe in the right to organize, just as I believe in the right to say no. I don't believe unions are an ideal end all solution like the traditional left seems to act at times, but they are a useful tool for righting wrongs.
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