Hollywood braces for possible writers’ strike as talks continue – NBC Los Angeles

Last-ditch efforts to avert a strike by the nearly 20,000 writers represented by the Writers Guild of America are expected to continue today before the current contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers expires at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, a reported Deadline.com. .

Further talks were scheduled for Sunday – and possibly Monday after representatives of the two sides met on Saturday at the AMPTP offices in Sherman Oaks, the Hollywood website said.

Much of Hollywood is waiting to see if the screenwriters will come out, potentially disrupting work on hundreds of scripted movies, TV shows and streaming productions.

Improved pay, especially in the age of streaming, is a major hurdle to a new three-year deal, Guild officials said.

WGA members voted overwhelmingly earlier this month to allow a strike if union negotiations failed. The Guild said 97.8% of its members who voted supported the strike authorization vote. A total of 9,218
union members voted, representing nearly 79% of WGA membership.

“Our members have spoken,” said a union announcing the results of the vote. Writers expressed our collective strength, solidarity and demand for meaningful change in overwhelming numbers. Armed with this undeniable show of unity and determination, we will continue to work at the bargaining table to achieve a fair contract for all writers.

The Alliance, which represents the studios, released a statement even before the vote results were announced, saying approval was inevitable and urging talks to continue to avoid a work stoppage.

A vote to authorize a strike has always been part of the WGA’s plan, announced before the parties even exchanged proposals, according to the AMPTP.

Its inevitable ratification should surprise no one. Our goal is, and continues to be, to reach a fair and reasonable settlement. A deal is only possible if the Guild commits to focus on serious negotiations by engaging in thorough discussions of the issues with the companies and seeking reasonable compromises.

Strike votes are a common tactic employed by unions during union negotiations to pressure employers. The adoption of the authorization vote does not automatically mean that a strike will take place; it only allows the union
call a strike if union negotiations fail.

The WGA last went on strike in 2007-2008, going out of work for 100 days and halting Hollywood production. This strike precipitated an overcompensation for what was then called new media, with the Internet
streaming is starting to reshape the entertainment landscape.

Various estimates from different organizations estimated that the 100-day strike cost the local economy between $2 billion and $3 billion.

Last week, the WGA released what it calls walkout strike rules. The instructions to union members essentially prohibit them from writing for striking studios or conducting negotiations on
future writing projects.

The rules also direct union members to honor all WGA picket lines, perform assigned strike support duties, and notify the union of any strikebreaking activity.

Among the issues on the bargaining table, the WGA is pushing for salary and residual increases, particularly on streaming content.

The Guild specifically calls for higher residual compensation for streaming programs that have higher viewership, rather than the existing model that pays a standard rate regardless of a show’s success.

The union is also asking for industry standards on the number of writers assigned to each show.

The studios pushed back on some union demands, noting that the industry as a whole faces budget constraints and citing the thousands of layoffs currently underway at the Walt Disney Co. as a prime example.

The studios also say that writers’ residuals have increased in recent years, fueled in large part by monies earned from new media.