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The Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike is officially over.
On the 148th day of the work stoppage, the WGA West Board of Directors and the WGA East Council voted unanimously Tuesday to lift the strike order at 12:01 a.m. PT Wednesday. following a tentative agreement on a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). That means authors can get back to work starting Wednesday ahead of the final ratification vote.
The ratification vote will take place from October 2nd to 21st. 9. The WGA will hold membership meetings on both coasts in person and via Zoom this week to discuss the details of the contract. Given the enthusiastic support of the WGA negotiating committee, it is expected to be easily ratified by strike-weary members.
The vote to rescind the strike order followed the unanimous vote of the WGA Negotiating Committee, WGA West Board and WGA East Council to send the contract to members for ratification.
The WGA West will hold a general meeting on Wednesday evening at 7:00 pm PT at the Hollywood Palladium. The WGA East will meet at the Manhattan Center that evening at 6:00 p.m. ET. Zoom meetings will take place on Thursday at 5:00 p.m. (PT) and on Friday at 11:00 a.m. (PT).
The WGA also released the full 94-page contract and a summary of the new terms. The agreement includes compensation increases, a new minimum staffing requirement in television writers’ rooms, improved payment terms for screenwriters and protections for the use of artificial intelligence in the writing process. According to the Guild’s agreement:
- AI cannot write or rewrite literary material, and AI-generated material is not considered source material under the MBA, meaning AI-generated material cannot be used to undermine an author’s reputation or separate rights.
- A writer may elect to use AI in providing writing services if the company agrees and provided that the writer follows applicable company policies. However, the Company cannot require the Writer to use AI software (e.g. ChatGPT) when providing writing services.
- The company must inform the author whether the materials provided to him were generated by AI or contain AI-generated material.
- The WGA reserves the right to assert that the use of Author Materials to train AI is prohibited by MBA or other laws.
The unanimous decision to end the strike comes two days after the writers and Hollywood studios successfully concluded talks on a new three-year contract on September 24. After a marathon negotiating session, both sides were able to find compromises on key sticking points: including generative AI in the creative process, minimum staffing requirements for writers’ rooms and streaming residuals.
“We can say with great pride that this deal is exceptional – with significant gains and protections for authors across all areas of membership,” the WGA said Sunday in a statement announcing the tentative deal.
WGA and AMPTP have not yet released the details of the tentative agreement, which WGA members will vote to ratify in the coming days. Before the contract is presented to the Guild for a vote, the WGA Negotiating Committee must first vote to forward it to the WGA West and WGA East boards for approval, and the boards must approve the document before it is sent to the larger membership for a ratification vote.
The WGA’s vote to lift the strike order marks an official end to the work stoppage, which was still in effect Sunday when the WGA told members: “To be clear, no one may return to work until expressly authorized by the WGA.” became.” Guild. Until then we’ll still be on strike. But we are suspending the WGA pickets starting today. Instead, if you are able, we encourage you to join the SAG-AFTRA picket line this week. “
SAG-AFTRA is still protesting the AMPTP and waiting for it to return to the negotiating table as part of its 75-day strike.