In case you’re wondering how the Writers Guild of America-Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers contract negotiations are going, the answer as of today, April 3, 2023, is:
Not very well.
Here’s the email I just received from the WGA West:
DEAR MEMBERS,
Your WGA Negotiating Committee, the WGAW Board and WGAE Council unanimously ask you and your fellow members to demonstrate your willingness to fight for the contract writers need and deserve by supporting a strike authorization vote (SAV). Online voting will begin April 11.
The survival of writing as a profession is at stake in this negotiation. Over the past decade, while our employers have increased their profits by tens of billions, they have embraced business practices that have slashed our compensation and residuals and undermined our working conditions. We’ve met and talked with thousands of you about our bargaining agenda and heard loud and clear that this negotiation can’t be business as usual. The compensation increases and protections we’re demanding are designed to restore what has been taken away from writers.
How have the companies responded to the WGA’s bargaining agenda? After two weeks at the bargaining table, they have failed to offer meaningful responses on the core economic issues in any of the WGA’s primary work areas—screen, episodic television and comedy-variety. They have listened politely to our presentations and made small moves in only a few areas, almost entirely coupled with rollbacks designed to offset any gains. In short, the studios have shown no sign that they intend to address the problems our members are determined to fix in this negotiation.
Now we need to demonstrate that determination. You can help by voting yes on strike authorization, to give your leadership the leverage to make the strongest possible deal before deadline or to call a strike after May 1st if the companies are unwilling to meet our reasonable demands. Throughout April, WGA negotiators will continue to work toward the goal of a fair contract for writers.
In this video, Negotiating Committee member Luvh Rakhe lays out the key elements writers need to know about the SAV, including the below.
Online voting will begin Tuesday, April 11 at 8:30 p.m. (PDT) and end on Monday, April 17 at noon. Eligible members will receive the ballot link via email and on our website once the polls open at 8:30 pm on the 11th.
Here is an FAQ about the vote. Here is a social media toolkit to communicate your support.
Tomorrow you will receive an invitation to in-person and Zoom member meetings where you can hear directly from the Negotiating Committee and fellow members and ask any questions you have.
Time after time, this Guild has shown that it is unafraid to fight for what it deserves. Now, that time has come again.
IN SOLIDARITY,
WGA NEGOTIATING COMMITTEE
David A. Goodman, Co-Chair
Chris Keyser, Co-Chair
Ellen Stutzman, Chief Negotiator
John August
Angelina Burnett
Kay Cannon
Yahlin Chang
Robb Chavis
Adam Conover
Travis Donnelly
Ashley Gable
Hallie Haglund
Eric Haywood
Eric Heisserer
Greg Iwinski
Luvh Rakhe
Erica Saleh
Danielle Sanchez-Witzel
James Schamus
Tom Schulman
Mike Schur
David Shore
David Simon
Patric M. Verrone
Nicole Yorkin
Ex-Officio
Meredith Stiehm, WGAW President
Michele Mulroney, WGAW Vice President
Betsy Thomas, WGAW Secretary-Treasurer
Michael Winship, WGAE President
Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, WGAE Vice President, Film/TV/Streaming
Christopher Kyle, WGAE Secretary-Treasurer
WGAW BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Meredith Stiehm, President
Michele Mulroney, Vice President
Betsy Thomas, Secretary-Treasurer
Liz Hsiao Lan Alper
Raphael Bob-Waksberg
Angelina Burnett
Robb Chavis
Adam Conover
Marjorie David
Travis Donnelly
Ashley Gable
Justin Halpern
Dante W. Harper
Eric Haywood
Deric A. Hughes
Zoe Marshall
Dailyn Rodriguez
John Rogers
Nicole Yorkin
WGAE COUNCIL, FILM/TV/STREAMING (MBA)
Michael Winship, President
Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, Vice President, Film/TV/Streaming
Christopher Kyle, Secretary-Treasurer
Monica Lee Bellais
Kaitlin Fontana
Gina Gionfriddo
Josh Gondelman
Tian Jun Gu
A.M. Homes
Liz Hynes
Greg Iwinski
Erica Saleh
Sasha Stewart
Tracey Scott Wilson