As the Writers Guild East and West near the end of its strike authorization vote, the AMPTP, Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, predict member support will be “inevitable.”
“A strike authorization vote has always been part of the WGA’s plan, announced before the parties even exchanged proposals. Its inevitable ratification should come as no surprise to anyone,” the AMPTP said in a statement on Monday, prior to the results of the vote being released. This according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Both parties are currently in talks on a new three-year film and television pact, as the May 1 expiration date for the union’s current agreement nears.
The AMPTP added, “a fair and reasonable agreement is only possible if the Guild is committed to turning its focus to serious bargaining by engaging in full discussions of the issues with the Companies and searching for reasonable compromises.”
WGA members have been voting on whether to authorize a strike since April 11. Polls close on Monday at noon with results expected to be announced later today.
If the vote results in favor of the authorization, it still does not mean the guild will strike. But it does give the union another tool in its belt to use during the negotiations. Guild captains have encouraged members under the current MBA agreement to vote, “yes.”
REELated:
The WGA, which represents around 11,500 film and television writers, and AMPTP have been negotiating since March 20. Little to no information about progress has been released. Neither party has spoken publicly.
The WGA is seeking higher compensation for writers. This includes:
- higher wage floors across the board
- standardizing fees for streaming and theatrical films
- expanding span protection (which shields writers being compensated per episode from working for long periods on short-order series)
- regulating mini rooms
- instituting a mandatory two “steps” (points of payment) for feature writers.
The guild is additionally pushing for minimum television writing staff sizes and a minimum number of weeks of employment, THR reported in February.
Artificial intelligence has also been a dominant part of the ongoing conversation. With the rise of ChatGPT and other chatbots that produce written material, the guild is advocating to prohibit AI-produced or AI-rewritten content from being covered under the contract.
Banning companies from assigning writers adaptations of writing originally generated by the technology is also a priority.
The Directors Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA, which negotiate this year after the writers, are closely watching what the writers receive.
