It still remains to be seen just how Hollywood’s most recent writers strike is ultimately going to change the shape of the industry, but after a lengthy and hard-fought battle for better working conditions, the Writers Guild of America finally has a new labor contract that an overwhelming majority of its members are ready to make official.
WGA’s new labor contract is finally a sealed deal
An overwhelming 99 percent of the Writers Guild of America’s membership has voted to authorize its new labor contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers after a lengthy strike.
An overwhelming 99 percent of the Writers Guild of America’s membership has voted to authorize its new labor contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers after a lengthy strike.
Image: Writers Guild of America
is a reporter focusing on film, TV, and pop culture. Before The Verge, he wrote about comic books, labor, race, and more at io9 and Gizmodo for almost five years.
(Disclosure: The Verge’s editorial staff is also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East.)
Per The Hollywood Reporter, an astonishing 99 percent — 8,435 out of 8,525 of the ballots cast — of WGA members voted to authorize the new deal with the AMPTP, which will determine how writers are compensated for the next three years.
In a statement about the ratification vote, Writers Guild of America West president Meredith Stiehm pointed to the union’s “solidarity and determination” as the sources of its strength and stressed the “meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of our combined membership”
“Together we were able to accomplish what many said was impossible only six months ago,” Stiehm said. “We would not have been able to achieve this industry-changing contract without WGA chief negotiator Ellen Stutzman, negotiating committee co-chairs Chris Keyser and David A. Goodman, the entire WGA negotiating committee, strike captains, lot coordinators, and the staff that supported every part of the negotiation and strike.”
In its own statement about the vote, the AMPTP congratulated the WGA and described writers being able to get back to work as “important progress for our industry.” With the Screen Actors Guild strike not yet over, there’s still progress to be made, but now that the WGA’s won its battle and shown that the studios can be dealt with, the actors have all the more reason to keep fighting.
Follow topics and authors from this story to see more like this in your personalized homepage feed and to receive email updates.
