The Writers Guild of America West (WGA) and its unionized staff have reached a tentative agreement that could finally end the nearly three-month strike that placed picket lines outside the guild’s Los Angeles headquarters for much of the spring.
The Writers Guild Staff Union announced Friday that negotiators had reached a tentative first contract agreement with WGA West leadership, with a ratification vote expected in the coming days.
“A ratification vote will be held in the coming days,” the WGSU Bargaining Committee said in a statement. “Once ratified, the WGSU strike will end, and Writers Guild staff will return to doing what we do best: defending the writers’ hard-fought gains and helping them build collective power.”
According to the staff union, the agreement resolves several major sticking points that had prolonged negotiations, including disputes surrounding seniority protections and a no-strike clause.
The proposed three-year agreement includes a minimum 12% wage increase across the contract term, including an immediate 8% raise for bargaining unit employees in 2026. The deal would also raise the salary floor from $43,000 to $57,000 annually retroactive to August 2025 while introducing longevity increases tied to five, 10 and 15 years of service.
Additional provisions reportedly include:
- just cause protections
- a formal grievance procedure
- AI protections
- safeguards involving contractors and temporary employees
- and the creation of a labor-management committee aimed at improving communication between guild leadership and staff
The agreement also reportedly establishes wage scales comparable to those already secured by staff members at the WGA East.
The labor dispute became an unusually awkward and highly visible chapter for the WGA West, an organization nationally associated with labor activism and worker protections. Throughout the strike, staff picketers regularly demonstrated outside the guild’s Fairfax Avenue headquarters, with the inflatable labor protest symbol “Scabby the Rat” frequently appearing onsite.
The Writers Guild Staff Union had accused WGA West leadership of actions including surveillance, retaliation against union supporters and bargaining in bad faith during negotiations.
If ratified, the agreement would officially end one of Hollywood’s more ironic labor standoffs in recent memory: a writers union facing a strike from its own workers.
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