Writer’s Strike Authorization Vote Begins
The referendum will gauge union members’ willingness to fight.
On Tuesday, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) began holding a strike authorization vote that will continue until April 17. A YES vote would allow the union to call a strike when the current three-year contract expires on May 1. The WGA has 4,700 members in the WGA East and over 24,000 in the WGA West.
“While a strike authorization vote does not ensure a writers’ strike will occur, it does gauge members’ willingness to cease work if the union deems a strike necessary,” Katie Kilkenny writes in the Hollywood Report.
The Writers Guild of America West stated on social media: “The studios need to respond to the crisis writers face. WGA members must demonstrate the willingness to fight for the contract writers need and deserve by supporting a strike authorization vote.”
In keeping with the guild’s messaging in this round of talks that the stakes are existential for writers, the union further alleged that “the survival of our profession is at stake” because “over the past decade, the companies embraced business practices that slashed our compensation and undermined our working conditions.”
Writers including Everything Everywhere All at Once co-director Daniel Kwan, Gordita Chronicles showrunner Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz, New Amsterdam executive producer Aaron Ginsburg, and Koala Man creator Dan Hernandez publicly voiced their intention to vote yes at the poll. “We hoped it would not come to this, but we are not afraid to show the full strength of our collective power,” Aaron Ginsburg tweeted.
The WGA’s bargaining goals include an increasing minimum compensation across the board, higher residual payments, especially in streaming, and increased contributions to the union’s health and pension plan. With the trend toward shorter seasons, the union wants more robust protections for writers working longer on fewer episodes.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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The referendum will gauge union members’ willingness to fight.
On Tuesday, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) began holding a strike authorization vote that will continue until April 17. A YES vote would allow the union to call a strike when the current three-year contract expires on May 1. The WGA has 4,700 members in the WGA East and over 24,000 in the WGA West.
“While a strike authorization vote does not ensure a writers’ strike will occur, it does gauge members’ willingness to cease work if the union deems a strike necessary,” Katie Kilkenny writes in the Hollywood Report.
The Writers Guild of America West stated on social media: “The studios need to respond to the crisis writers face. WGA members must demonstrate the willingness to fight for the contract writers need and deserve by supporting a strike authorization vote.”
In keeping with the guild’s messaging in this round of talks that the stakes are existential for writers, the union further alleged that “the survival of our profession is at stake” because “over the past decade, the companies embraced business practices that slashed our compensation and undermined our working conditions.”
Writers including Everything Everywhere All at Once co-director Daniel Kwan, Gordita Chronicles showrunner Brigitte Muñoz-Liebowitz, New Amsterdam executive producer Aaron Ginsburg, and Koala Man creator Dan Hernandez publicly voiced their intention to vote yes at the poll. “We hoped it would not come to this, but we are not afraid to show the full strength of our collective power,” Aaron Ginsburg tweeted.
The WGA’s bargaining goals include an increasing minimum compensation across the board, higher residual payments, especially in streaming, and increased contributions to the union’s health and pension plan. With the trend toward shorter seasons, the union wants more robust protections for writers working longer on fewer episodes.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
