WGA calls for strike authorisation vote after unproductive talks with AMPTP
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has called for a strike authorisation vote starting next week as the first US writers’ strike in 15 years inches closer to fruition.
In a note sent to its members, the WGA painted a picture of talks that have stalled and said that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents the studios, has “shown no sign that they intend to address the problems our members are determined to fix in this negotiation.”
Negotiations, which are being led by WGA assistant executive director Ellen Stutzman, started on March 20 and the WGA and AMPTP now have less than one month to reach a new deal or face the possibility of a strike.
WGA’s decision to ask its roughly 11,500 members to authorise a strike is unsurprising, and does not mean that a strike will definitely happen.
The strike authorisation vote will be conducted online beginning on Tuesday April 11 and ending on Monday April 17. If WGA members vote to authorise the strike, the guild and its members will be in a position to stage a walkout on May 1 if a deal has not been reached.
Elsewhere in its note to members, the WGA said no progress had been made on some of its main issues.
“After two weeks at the bargaining table, [the studios] 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.”
Elsewhere, in a social media post encouraging WGA members to vote in favour of authorising the strike, the WGA West said: “Over the past decade, the companies embraced business practices that slashed our compensation and undermined our working conditions. We are asking to restore writer pay and conditions to reflect our value to this industry. The survival of our profession is at stake.”
