For the first time since 2007, more than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) are planning to walk out on Tuesday morning. This action could immediately halt the production of numerous television programs and postpone the launch of new seasons of others later this year.
The union leadership stated in a statement that despite their efforts, the studios’ reactions to their suggestions “have been wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis writers are facing.”
They’ve shut the door on their workforce and let writers work solely as independent contractors. This membership could never consider such a deal.
The WGA tweeted that it would not erect picket lines until Tuesday afternoon, despite the fact that union members will go on strike starting at 3 am EDT on Tuesday.
The studios responded by claiming they were willing to improve on their offer but were not willing to accept certain of the union’s requests after disclosing that the negotiations concluded late on Monday, just hours before the strike deadline, without a deal.
The Guild’s ideas that would oblige a corporation to staff a show with a set number of writers for a specified amount of time, whether needed or not, are “mandatory staffing” and “duration of employment,” according to the statement from management’s negotiating group.
Member companies are still united in their desire to come to an agreement that will benefit writers, the industry’s health and longevity, and the thousands of employees that depend on it for their livelihoods.
The space between the two sides hinted that this might be the beginning of a prolonged strike. The most recent strike, which began in November 2007 and lasted until February 2008, lasted 100 days.
The last episodes of many cable and broadcast network programs have already been shot, although viewers may notice an influence on late-night programs, daytime soap operas, and programs like “Saturday Night Live,” which may have early season endings.
the host Seth Meyers warned his audience that if there is a strike, Late Night with Seth Meyers won’t be broadcast because he was on the picket line as a writer at SNL during the previous strike. Requests for comments about the immediate effects on other shows did not immediately elicit a response.
Financial Strain
Both parties claim that they are experiencing financial hardship at the time of the strike.
The stock prices of several media and technology businesses that produce shows using the authors have fallen, forcing drastic cost cuts, including layoffs.
The Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP), which covers NBC Universal, Apple (AAPL), CBS (VIAC), Disney (DIS), Netflix (NFLX), Paramount Global, Sony (SNE), and CNN’s parent company Warner Bros., is in charge of representing management during negotiations.
Increase In Streaming
The majority of the $2 billion in economic losses from the 2007 strike occurred in Southern California. In today’s dollars, that amounts to about $3 billion after inflation. Since the previous strike ended 15 years ago, the industry has seen a significant transformation.
Since the last session of negotiations in 2020 during the early weeks of the pandemic, those developments have quickened. Studios modified their business structures in an effort to adapt to how people were now consuming films and television series as a result of the growth of streaming services.
When a show they wrote gets bought to run again in syndication or on basic cable, writers typically receive residuals. Over the years, it has served as a significant source of income for many writers. However, under current contracts, they are unlikely to receive any residuals at all, let alone ones that are meaningful, when they produce original content for streaming services.
