Television and film writers announced late Monday that they would be staging an industry-wide strike for the first time in 15 years, as Hollywood prepared to come out with potentially wide-ranging repercussions in a fight over fair wages in the broadcast age.
Writers Guild of America It said 11,500 union screenwriters would go to the sit-in on Tuesday. Negotiations between the studios and writers, which began in March, failed to result in a new contract before the current book deal expired just after midnight, 12:01 a.m. PST Tuesday. The union told its members that they should stop writing the script immediately.
The WGA’s board of directors, comprising the West and East branches, voted unanimously to call a strike, effective at midnight. They said the writers are facing an “existential crisis”.
“The companies’ behavior has created a labor-based economy within the unionized workforce, and their steadfast stance in these negotiations has demonstrated a commitment to further devaluing the writing profession,” the WGA said in a statement. From their refusal to guarantee any level of weekly employment in episodic television, to the creation of a “daily rate” in variety comedy, to their stalling on free labor for screenwriters and on artificial intelligence for all writers, they have closed the door on their workforce and opened the door on writing as a profession. Completely independent. Such a deal could never have been contemplated by this membership.”
The Motion Picture and Television Producers Alliance, the trade union that negotiates on behalf of studios and production companies, indicated late Monday that negotiations did not reach an agreement before the expiration of the current contract. AMPTP said it made an offer with “generous increases in compensation for writers as well as improvements to tailings flow.”
In a statement, AMPTP said it was willing to improve its bid “but was unwilling to do so due to the volume of other proposals still on the table that the union continues to insist on.”
A labor dispute can have a cascading effect on television and film productions Depending on how long the strike lasts. But a large-scale shutdown was expected for several months due to the scope of the row. book last month She voted overwhelmingly to allow the strikewith 98% of the membership in support.
The dispute is over how to compensate writers in an industry where streaming has changed the rules of Hollywood economics. Writers say they are not being paid enough, that television writer’s rooms have shrunk too much, and The old calculation of how waste is paid must be redrawn.
“The very survival of our profession is at stake,” the union said.
Broadcasting has increased the number of series and films being produced annually, which means more job opportunities for writers. But WGA members say they make much less money and work under more stressful conditions. Showrunners on streaming series are paid just 46% of the pay that showrunners receive on broadcast series, the WGA claims. Content is booming, but wages are low.
The syndicate is seeking more compensation on the front of deals. Many back-push writers have historically benefited from – such as syndication and international licensing – largely phased out with the onset of broadcasting. More writers—about half of them—are paid minimum wages, an increase of 16% over the past decade. The use of so-called mini-rooms for writers rose.
AMPTP said Monday that the primary sticking points in the deal revolve around those small rooms — the union seeks a minimum number of clerks per writer room — and the duration of hiring restrictions. The guild said more flexibility is needed for writers when they are contracted on series which tend to be limited and short-lived than a standard broadcast season of one time +20 episodes.
At the same time, studios are under increasing pressure from Wall Street to cash in on streaming services. Many studios and production companies, which negotiate as the Motion Picture and Television Producers Association, are cutting spending. The Walt Disney Company 7,000 jobs eliminated. Warner Bros. Discovery is cutting costs to reduce its debt. Netflix has injected breaks into spending growth.
Viewers are more likely to notice the immediate impact of the strike on late-night shows and “Saturday Night Live.” Everyone is expected to be turned off immediately. During the 2007 strike, the late night hosts got back on the air and brought in improvised material. Jay Leno wrote his own monologues, a move that angered the union leadership.