WGA Tells Members to Get Ready to Picket If a Deal Isn’t Reached
The Writers Guild of America told its members Sunday that they should be ready to picket if a new deal isn’t reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers by the May 1 deadline.
In an email sent to its members Sunday night, the guild’s negotiating committee also asked the writers to complete a survey on their preferred strike locations and times.
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“While the WGA Negotiating Committee continues to bargain with the AMPTP with the goal of reaching a fair deal by tomorrow’s May 1st contract deadline, we need to be ready for a potential strike,” the email read. “The greatest amount of leverage we collectively bring to a strike action is the withdrawal of our labor. Picketing is a key tactic to demonstrate that we are all in this together, and that until a strike is resolved, it’s not business as usual.”
The committee added that if it a strike is authorized, information about picketing locations and times will be sent to members and posted on the WGA Campaign 2023 website.
Negotiations took place throughout the entire weekend between the AMPTP and the WGA as the clock ran down on the union’s current three-year contract, which is set to expire Monday at midnight. The two sides have been trading proposals and counter-proposals on residuals and data transparency from streamers, according to one source who has been informed of the status of talks. Further negotiations are set to take place Monday and are expected to last until the final minute, as the WGA often seeks to increase their leverage by negotiating up until the last moment on contracts.
WGA members constructed picket signs last week in preparation for a potential strike, which weeks earlier nearly 98 percent of union members authorized in a vote. (It’s not unusual for a union to prepare picket signs for a potential strike even if one does not occur; IATSE members did the same before their leadership reached a deal that was narrowly ratified in the fall of 2021.)
The signs created last week specifically target the AMPTP, Amazon, Disney, NBC/Peacock, Netflix, Paramount and Warner Bros. Discovery with “FAIR CONTRACT” written alongside hand-drawn logos of the studios. Other signs bear slogans including “The future of writing is at stake,” among other messages.
The timing of picketing, one self-described WGA captain noted on Sunday, will depend on a few factors. “It is possible that if a deal seems unlikely earlier in the night Monday we could be notified to get ready for Tuesday morning,” Daniel Kunka tweeted. “If negotiations run very late (and remembering the WGA [East] is three hours ahead) we may go pencils down Tuesday morning but not actually start picketing until the afternoon.”
WGA leaders will convene a meeting on Wednesday for members whether a deal has been reached or not to explain the decision.
According to the WGA strike rules disseminated last week, all members must picket at assigned locations in the event of a strike, “absent a valid medical excuse, non writing employment, compelling personal circumstances [e.g., essential child or elder care] or emergency.”
In the event of a strike, writers cannot do any writing, revising, pitching or discussing future projects with companies that are members of the AMPTP. If members do not abide by the rules, the guild can impose discipline for violations, including but not limited to, expulsion or suspension from membership, imposition of monetary fines or censure.
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