The boycott was lifted the day after the march.

All of that happened AFTER the dispute was over.

So those people who thought their livelihoods were about to be stuffed by the actions of union parasites, should have just been GRATEFUL when the parasites munificently agreed not to stuff people’s livelihoods after all, and instead of moaning they should have paid their union dues and gone back to work like good little worker bees??

Happy in the knowledge that the Union knows best, the Union is on our side, where would we be without the Union?

Fuck me… and you probably wonder why union stirrers in the 1930s ended up in ditches with an un-countable number of bullets in them.

Emails between the CTU and Warner Bros show that a settlement had been negotiated by the Sunday 17 or Monday 18 October, 2010, depending on which timezone you were in. Actors’ Equity had agreed to lift the boycott. It was over bar the shouting.

But the shouting was delayed by Warners and, it seems, Jackson. They wanted time before releasing a public statement and the unions agreed. Thing is, at this point it seems that all the parties lined up against the unions cynically used this delay to their political advantage.

AFTER the boycott had been lifted that – but BEFORE the public had been told – Jackson continued to strongly criticise the unions, Taylor and his Weta Workshop employees held their impromptu and angry march through Wellington, and National ministers met with Warner Bros and agreed to change employment law and pay out 20-something million dollars in order to keep the movies in New Zealand.

All of that happened AFTER the dispute was over. So now it’s time for long overdue questions to be asked, such as:

• Had Warner Bros told Jackson the dispute was over and was he quibbling over the wording of the statement as the emails suggest?
• If he knew the boycott had been lifted, why did he not stop his attacks?
• Was Jackson out of the loop by the end and were Warners lying to the CTU or was Jackson lying in his subsequent public statements?
• Why did Weta staff and others march in protest at a dispute that had already been settled?
• Did Taylor know that? Did his staff? Or were they misled?
• Why did National hand over millions of taxpayers dollars to settle the dispute when the unions had already caved?
• And why did ministers change the law to retain the movies when Warners had no reason to move them elsewhere?
• Was there miscommunication? Is there some innocent explanation? Or was this blatant political manipulation?

At face value, New Zealanders have every reason to feel angry and betrayed by their leaders and indeed movie-makers, who until now have been feted and even knighted. I hope they have an explanation and I hope they make it promptly. Because the timing of these emails calls their integrity into question and must be addressed.

http://www.pundit.co.nz/content/the-hobbit-time-for-answers-john-peter-richard

I’m surprised that no one in the media has bothered to check when the boycott was lifted and keep repeating Kelly’s line as fact.

I’m surprised you keep defending the government’s shocking handling of the issue and their ongoing lies. I guess you don’t like admitting you were played…

Yep, simply more 2013 Herald drive l (aka Drinnan?). And confirmation of Rudman

I guess it is simply part of the white shoe brigade’s hate of any success south of Bombay….

Bloggers with buddies in the self-employed industry were outraged that organised labour might be allowed in.

wow, really.

the Ombudsman has forced the Government to reveal that boycott action had been lifted two days before the march had even begun.

that’s just not true and any journalist should be able to go to the SAG site and check for themselves

DPF – for excellent analysis and posting – 10/10

Pete Jackson – for guts and principles – 10+/10

Deano, et al – for being plain dumb and incapable of knowing that they are – 0/10

Kelly – for lies and contortions – -5/10

Ross69 – for proving, yet again, that he is a serial liar (remember Nostalgia-NZ, Kanz and Rowan rossie?) , and as thick as pig shit – -10/10

She continues to maintain the boycott was lifted on the 18th when it’s a matter of public record that it was lifted on the 21st.

What she and the emails are referring to is the negotiation over a possible joint the press release – not the lifting of the boycott.

The unions were holding out for a press release that implied Jackson was partly to blame and the unions were the aggrieved party. Not surprisingly Jackson objected.

The unions could have at any time lifted the boycott but instead they kept holding out for some face-saving mechanism – ie they wanted the lifting of the boycott to be conditional on them getting from Jackson an admission that the union had acted in good faith. Their position was – once we get that then we’ll lift the boycott.

Jackson would have none of that and eventually the union backed down and lifted the boycott on the 21st. And no joint press statement was released.

So at the time of the march the boycott was still in place and there was no indication as to when it was going to be lifted.

THR is confirming what everyone already knew: “Green Lantern” is not filming in Australia due to the falling U.S. dollar. Last Friday, the Australian dollar hit a 27-year high against the U.S. dollar, and Australia is not alone, as the dollar is falling against every other countries currency. What this means is…”Green Lantern” will likely film in the United States in whatever area gives the production the biggest tax incentive. But I should mention THR is saying it’ll probably film in Mexico or Canada.

http://collider.com/green-lantern-officially-leaves-australia/

Your comment about the Green Lantern was a little cute. How about telling us why the film was moved.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/film/green-lantern-may-fly-from-sydney/2009/08/26/1251001943980.html

Garry Maddox
August 27, 2009

FOUR months after the movie Green Lantern was trumpeted as a coup for the NSW economy, there are doubts whether it will be shot in Sydney.

The film’s studio, Warner Bros, is reportedly seeking extra concessions from the State Government after the rising value of the dollar added up to $US25 million ($30 million) to the cost of production.

The film industry was buzzing yesterday with speculation that the movie could be lost to a cheaper filming location, possibly in North America.

Green Lantern was due to be shot on a reputed budget of more than $US150 million at Fox Studios this year but was postponed until early next year to allow more work on the script.

The Premier, Nathan Rees, announced in April that the movie would create 500 jobs.

An 11 per cent rise in the value of the dollar has tested the commitment of Warner Bros and DC Comics to Sydney.

The website Inside Film reported that the studio was negotiating with the Government over extra concessions that would allow it to claw back between $US15 million and $US25 million in value eroded by the currency gains.

To be directed by Martin Campbell, best known for GoldenEye and Casino Royale, Green Lantern will star Ryan Reynolds as a test pilot who uses an alien ring to fight crime.

”We’re doing everything we possibly can,” said one industry executive about keeping the movie in Sydney. ”We won’t go down without a fight.”

A Warner Bros representative in Los Angeles could not be reached for comment.

A spokesman for the Premier would not be drawn on discussions with the studio or what incentives had been provided to the movie.

So, the reason Warners shot through was because of a rise in the exchange rate, not because of uppity unionists who don’t know their place. Interestingly, Warners also wanted concessions to “claw back between $US15 million and $US25 million in value eroded by the currency gains”. That sounds suspiciously like the situation re the Hobbit, except that Warners had spent at least US$45 million on the Hobbit before shooting even began. I don’t think Warners was going to throw that investment away.

Yes ross69, I relish any opportunity for a good old union bashing.

Tell me something I don’t know.

I’ve read these documents, and never expect they’d change anyone’s mind really. They’ve certainly not changed my view that industrial relations isn’t for the faint-hearted, and in this case I hope all parties could admit, if only to themselves, there were things everyone could have done better. And I still think Peter Jackson is neither Evil Incarnate or some Flawless Flower.

Of course the movies were always going to be made here. Suggestions it could be shifted overseas, to the UK, Eastern Europe, or even NSW are laughable.

There’s no “of course” about it, Dean Papa. Just ask the hundreds in Sydney who lost their jobs when pre-production on Green Lantern was shut-down and the whole dog-and-pony show moved to Louisiana.

All I care about is that the union scum lost. The behaviour of Kelly and co hammered another nail into the corrupt coffin of unionism and that is always a good thing.

In other words, the blacklist was a non-issue. The government knew that and so did Jackson. However, both failed to inform a guillible public. The guillibility of some is evident here with their anti-union rants.