After nearly 150 days of nonstop picketing, The Writers Guild of America is announcing that they’ve reached an “exceptional” tentative agreement that will end the Hollywood writers’ strike.
Source: Mario Tama / Getty
Variety reports that the WGA and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers finalized things Sunday after five consecutive days of negotiations.
“We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional – with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership,” the WGA’s negotiating committee wrote in an email while noting that the strike isn’t officially over until the agreement is approved by WGA’s board and members.
WGA’s negotiating committee also gave a shoutout in its email to “union siblings” and members for their tireless work.
“What we have won in this contract – most particularly, everything we have gained since May 2nd – is due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power, to demonstrate its solidarity, to walk side-by-side, to endure the pain and uncertainty of the past 146 days,” the email read per Variety.
“It is the leverage generated by your strike, in concert with the extraordinary support of our union siblings, that finally brought the companies back to the table to make a deal.”
It’s unclear what “exceptional” things are included in the deal but the WGA was fighting for a variety of things, including for writers on popular streaming shows to be compensated based on viewership and for protections to be put in place to ensure that AI cannot be used to write or rewrite existing scripts. Those demands and others were denied, and the strike began.
And while WGA is celebrating, the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is still continuing its strike and waiting for its respective negotiations to resume.
Source: Allen J. Schaben / Getty
SAG-AFTRA began its own strike on July 14.
“SAG-AFTRA congratulates the WGA on reaching a tentative agreement with the AMPTP after 146 days of incredible strength, resiliency, and solidarity on the picket lines. While we look forward to reviewing the WGA and AMPTP’s tentative agreement, we remain committed to achieving the necessary terms for our members,” reads an official SAG-AFTRA statement.
“Since the day the WGA strike began, SAG-AFTRA members have stood alongside the writers on the picket lines. We remain on strike in our TV/Theatrical contract and continue to urge the studio and streamer CEOs and the AMPTP to return to the table and make the fair deal that our members deserve and demand.”
What do YOU think about the WGA strike potentially coming to a close this week?
