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The Writers Guild of America is on strike.
“Although we negotiated the intent to strike a fair deal—and even though your vote to strike gave us the leverage to make some gain—the studios’ responses to our proposals were not wholly adequate, given the existential crisis the writers were facing,” the WGA said in a statement. A direct message has now been sent to members. The union leadership added: “We must now exercise maximum leverage to obtain a fair contract by withholding our work.” “The members of the negotiating committee, the board of directors, and the board will come out with you in the picket lines.”
News of the strike, which took effect in just a few hours, came late Monday after union negotiations with AMPTP failed to reach an agreement on a new film and a written TV contract. It is the WGA’s first strike since the 100-day strike in 2007-08.
Less than an hour after talks with the studios ended and more than three hours before their current contract officially expires, the union also made a public announcement of the workflow:
Following the unanimous recommendation of the WGA Negotiating Committee, the Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and the Board of Directors of the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE), in accordance with the power vested in them by their membership, voted unanimously to call a strike, effective at 12:01 Morning, Tuesday, May 2.
The decision was made after six weeks of negotiations with Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony under the umbrella of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The WGA Negotiating Committee initiated this process with the goal of achieving a fair deal, but the studios’ responses have been wholly inadequate given the existential crisis the writers are facing.
Corporate behavior had created a labor-based economy within the unionized workforce, and their steadfast stance in these negotiations betrayed their commitment to further devaluing the writing profession. From refusing to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to creating a “daily rate” in a variety of comedies, to stalling free labor for screenwriters and artificial intelligence for all writers, they’ve closed the door to their own power and opened the door to writing as a freelance profession. completely. Such a deal could never be contemplated by this membership.
The strike will start tomorrow afternoon.
In addition to declaring a state of strike tonight, the union said when and where the first would be sit will take place. With locations like the Hollywood offices of Netflix, CBS TV City near Grove and the other usual suspects from Disney, Universal and more, Primary Encounters will pick up in Los Angeles at 1pm PT.
Along with Tinseltown’s first major strike in 15 years, the WGA has scheduled a members’ information session for May 3 at the 6,000-plus capacity Shrine Auditorium. Even before that, as the picket signs go up tomorrow, late-night shows will be closed on both coasts, along with writers’ rooms and any big-screen or small-screen project still fine-tuning or grinding scripts.
Agents and producers move around town quickly at the last minute to get deals before midnight, so in some cases some clerks can get another paycheck, we hear.
The union began putting up picket signs last week after issuing a long list of “strike rules,” which prohibit members from working on battered productions, and from selling and performing scripts while on strike.
Related: Deadline’s full hit coverage
Going into the talks, the union was seeking a major overhaul in compensation and tailings formulas, as well as restrictions on small rooms, where groups of writers pre-produce TV series to break stories and write scripts.
Related: List of WGA Strike Picket Line locations in Los Angeles and New York
Due to lower residuals, lack of streaming data information, job insecurity and more, writers generally bring in less money despite a boom in content in the last year from more shows and more platforms. Disagreements, even if they have widely divergent approaches yet on how to solve the problem.
The union also wants greater protection for its members’ overpayments, noting that with the advent of broadcasting, more writers at all levels are working on a large scale than ever before, including many presenters.
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