To mark today’s official Labor Day holiday in the United States, the Writers Guild released a video with WGA Negotiating Committee co-chair Chris Keyser addressing its members in the midst of the current industrial action.
The writer’s strike is currently in its 126th day, and whilst there seemed to be hope last month when talks resumed, discussions fell apart, and at this point it seems little progress has been made.
In the video, Keyser says: “Our feet and backs may ache, but our cause is the same. Our case is the same… We’re not going to leave any sector of the Guild behind. These things must be resolved. And not with contract language that has a one-to-one ratio of promises to loopholes. Truly resolved.”
He adds the members of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) are “wrestling amongst themselves” and that much of everyone’s frustration with how long this is taking stems from the AMPTP’s “internal bargaining” but thinks “they will get there.”
Keyser cited all the major strike issues still in contention: “The erosion of pay. The abuse of screenwriters. The failure to protect Appendix A writers in the move to streaming. The dismantling of the writing process in episodic television. The threat of AI. The refusal to provide streaming residuals that grow with viewership. Each of these things is an existential issue for some or all of us.”
The last actual movement in terms of negotiations took place on August 11th when the AMPTP delivered its latest counteroffer to the guild, which the latter described as “not nothing nor nearly enough.”
Source: YouTube@WGA
