The Writers Guild of America has voted in favour of a strike by 97.85%, easily passing a strike authorization vote. This will give the union leadership the power to call a strike once the contract expires on May 1st.
In an email issued to members, the guild revealed that 78.79% of eligible members had cast ballots, with vote being 9,020 in favour and 198 opposed – that’s a new record for participation and percentage of support (the 2007 strike was 90.3% in favour).
In a statement to its members, the WGA says: “Armed with this demonstration of unity and resolve, we will continue to work at the negotiating table to achieve a fair contract for all writers.”
Talks between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers resumed today following several meetings over the last two weeks. Negotiations began on March 20th, but relatively little progress has been made on any key issues.
A strike isn’t inevitable, but it does give the negotiators for the Writers Guild more leverage as talks go down to the wire.
The WGA is seeking a major reworking of writer compensation, including a sizeable minimum increase and a better formula for residuals on streaming platforms.
There’s also a minimum staffing requirement for all TV shows, issues of options and exclusivity relating to shorter TV seasons, and a new regulation allowing A.I. in scriptwriting as long as it does not adversely affect writers’ credits and compensation.
Source: Variety
