My husband and I were at dinner with some friends recently. Someone remarked on the steadily increasing, cross-industry trend of getting people to work for very little compensation, or better yet, for free. I could vouch for it in the translation industry. Standard rates have not gone up in years. If anything, translators are bargained down as much as possible. My husband acknowledged it was the case amongst his classical musician friends, most of whom have often paid to play concerts. Some competitive internship programs and even a few fancy restaurants have adopted the trend as well. 14-hour shifts in a hot kitchen in exchange for nothing  more than proximity to a famous--and often crazy--chef is an honor, don't you know? Who needs money when you're getting prestige and top-notch training?

I've been nickel-and-dimed as a translator and freelance writer. The attitude I've encountered time and again can be summarized as: "Your talent and your experience mean nothing. You're interchangable. If you won't work for these rates, someone else will." And it's true--someoe else always will. So far I've had to fight my battles alone. But as I fully expect to be nickel-and-dimed as a screenwriter some day (I look forward to that day--it'll mean I've broken in!), I'm happy there's the WGA.

Hard times are ahead for the industry, but especially for the writers. To everyone on the picket lines, Vive la Résistance!, as we say here in France.

In the meantime, here's a video that I found amusing. May you all find things to smile about in the weeks and months to come.