It’s Day 18 of the Writers Guild of America strike. And the WGA is not alone in taking a strong bargaining stance against film and TV studios and streamers.
The contract between the Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers doesn’t expire for more than a month, and negotiations don’t even start until June 7. But the board of SAG and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has just told its 160,000 members that it wants a strike authorization vote. (Note: some members of the LAist newsroom staff are represented by SAG-AFTRA, although they are not involved with SAG-AFTRA negotiations with AMPTP.)
“The prospect of a strike is not a first option, but a last resort,” Fran Drescher, SAG-AFTRA’s president, said in a statement. “As my dad always says, ‘Better to have and not need than to need and not have!’”
Hollywood producers released a statement on May 4 that addressed specific points of the WGA's concerns. Among the issues addressed by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers were:
In a statement released the night before the strike, the WGA said:
"Over the course of the negotiation, we explained how the companies' business practices have slashed our compensation and residuals and undermined our working conditions. Our chief negotiator, as well as writers on the committee, made clear to the studios’ labor representatives that we are determined to achieve a new contract with fair pay that reflects the value of our contribution to company success and includes protections to ensure that writing survives as a sustainable profession."
The WGA says that most of its nearly 12,000 members are making less than they once did, and that after factoring for inflation, average WGA pay has actually dropped 14% over the last five years.
The union says about half of WGA members are earning scale — the bare minimum wages stipulated by the contract with the AMPTP. Ten years ago, it was only a third.
Executives at studios and streamers maintain that they are still recovering from pandemic losses and have spent billions of dollars creating and buying content for new streaming platforms, some of which are far from profitable.
For Hollywood executives, the stakes are high: if the AMPTP deal for writers increases pay and residual payments, their profit margins could shrink. Furthermore, other Hollywood unions would likely use any WGA gains as the template for their demands; contracts for the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild of America both expire in the coming weeks.
John Horn, who covers arts and entertainment, has been following negotiations closely. Josie Huang talked to picketers and local businesses affected by the strike. In addition, our AirTalk team has featured the strike in on-air discussions on LAist 89.3 and LAist coverage. Our podcasts HTLA and Retake have also talked to writers and others affected by the strike.
This is a developing story. We fact check everything and rely only on information from credible sources (think fire, police, government officials and reporters on the ground). Sometimes, however, we make mistakes and/or initial reports turn out to be wrong. In all cases, we strive to bring you the most accurate information in real time and will update this story as new information becomes available.
