0/5

48 hours to official strike end

The Writers Guild of America leaders gave a resounding thumbs-up to the guild’s new contract agreement clearing the way for a 48-hour vote among members about whether to end the strike.

The boards are also expected to begin the process of holding a 10-day ratification vote for members to formally seal the new three-year contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

Many members who attended an L.A. meeting said that the back-to-work order was pro forma and that they would resume work immediately on TV shows and film projects left in limbo when the WGA strike began on November 5th.

Attendees on both coasts praised the guild leaders for maintaining solidarity among the membership during the extreme hardship of the strike, and for achieving major financial gains in the new deal – including compensation for new media reuse of TV shows and movies and in securing WGA jurisdiction for writing done for the Internet, within predetermined budget levels.

One of the most disliked elements of the deal is in the area of web streaming, where the majors have a 17-day window (or 24 days for first-year programs) of free usage before residual fees kick in.

“The strike was definitely worth it,” said Dirty Sexy Money creator Craig Wright as he walked into the meeting. “There’s not a single gain that we made that we would have got if we hadn’t been on strike. But it’s time to end it. It’s time to go back to work.”

“This is a historic moment for writers in this country,” said Michael Moore. “There is a certain irony about the achievement. I would have thought it’d be autoworkers or ironworkers getting this victory but instead it’s the people who got beat up in school for writing in their journals.”

Source: Variety

2 Responses

  1. Thomas the WGA boards have approved a 48 hr period for the rank and file to vote upon their recommendation that the strike ends.

    This period also allows them to resume work immediately while the vote occurs.

    After the vote there is 10 days to formalise the new contract with the AMPTP.

  2. “48 hours to official strike end.”

    “…clearing the way for a 48-hour vote among members about whether to end the strike.”

    “…the back-to-work order was pro forma and that they would resume work immediately…”

    I don’t get it….are you saying that they are having a [i]vote[/i] to end the strike, but that they will return to work regardless of how the vote goes?

Leave a Reply