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The writers have officially approved their contract with the studios.
This afternoon, WGA members ratified their contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, finally ending the nearly five-month-long strike.
After a week-long vote, a large majority of WGA members voted to ratify the three-year minimum base contract. About 8,525 valid votes, or “99% of WGA membership,” as the guild just called it, were cast by members of the 11,000-member Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East.
“There were 8,435 yes votes and 90 no votes,” the guild said in an email to members.
The now sealed deal runs from September 25, 2023 to May 31, 2026 and offers major advances for writers in terms of AI guardrails, residuals, writers’ room staffing and data transparency, as well as salary increases.
Monday’s widely expected strong ratification result comes nearly two weeks after the two sides reached a tentative agreement on Sept. 24, ending the 148-day strike, the second longest after the 1988 writers’ strike. The results also arrive on the same day which the still-striking SAG-AFTRA began its second week of renewed talks with the AMPTP. The 160,000-member actors union stood side by side with the WGA for most of the summer and took to the picket lines in mid-July
On May 2, the WGA went on strike for the first time in 15 years as its last contract with studios and streamers expired. Pickets were set up across NYC, LA and elsewhere in the US, but the two sides did not speak officially for over 100 days.
Starting September 20, after a botched studio reboot in August, Warner Bros. Discovery’s David Zaslav, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, NBCUniversal’s Donna Langley and Disney’s Bob Iger finally sat down directly with WGA chief negotiator Ellen Stutzman as well as the former guild president David Goodman joined Chris Keyser and other members of the WGA negotiating committee in hopes of a breakthrough.
On September 26, two days after this groundbreaking agreement was reached, the WGA West Board of Directors and the WGA East Council voted unanimously to recommend the agreement to their members and sent it to a vote. At the same time, WGAW President Meredith Stiehm and WGAE President Lisa Takeuchi told members that they “strongly support this proposed treaty and encourage you to vote for its ratification.”
Today, both Stiehm and Takeuchi praise the great mandate given by the members of the agreement.
“Through solidarity and determination, we have ratified a treaty with significant benefits and protections for writers across all areas of our shared membership,” the WGAW chairman said after the voting results were released. “Together we were able to achieve what many thought was impossible just six months ago. We would not have been able to complete this industry-changing contract without WGA Chief Negotiator Ellen Stutzman, Negotiating Committee Co-Chairs Chris Keyser and David A. Goodman, the entire WGA Negotiating Committee, strike leaders, parcel coordinators and supporting staff Strikes.”
“Now is the time for the AMPTP to get the rest of the city back to work by negotiating a fair contract with our SAG-AFTRA siblings, who have supported the authors throughout our negotiations,” the WGAE boss said . “Until the studios reach a deal that addresses artists’ needs, WGA members will stand on the picket lines and walk side by side with SAG-AFTRA in solidarity.”
In its own statement, the AMPTP, led by Carol Lombardini, responded more measuredly to today’s ratification vote. “AMPTP member companies congratulate the WGA on ratifying its new contract, which represents significant gains and protections for creators,” the studio and streamer representative group said. “It is an important step forward for our industry that writers can work again.”
WGA members across the country received their ballots and supporting materials via email on October 2nd. Voting continued until 1 p.m. PT today, with the guild holding a question-and-answer session at noon at its Fairfax and 3rd Avenue headquarters. We hear that this meeting was sparsely attended. The low turnout was due in part to the fact that a significant number of Writers Guild members voted fairly early last week.
At the writers’ last strike – in 2007-08 – the subsequent deal was ratified with 93.6% and 4,060 votes cast.
After the West Coast Board and East Coast Council lifted the injunction and ended the long strike at 12:01 a.m. PT on September 27, writers have already returned to work. While the actors are still on strike and are supported by many WGA members, there is optimism that talks, which resumed today after negotiations last week, are proceeding smoothly.
While SAG-AFTRA, which is currently negotiating, continues to push for its own agreement with the studios and streamers, many shows have gotten their writers’ rooms back up and running in the past week as the broadcast networks, cable channels and streaming services look to get their plans back into production soon bring to. Celebrity guests are still relatively small, but late-night shows are already back on the air, as are most daytime shows. Saturday Night Live begins its 49th season on October 14th.
There was no picketing by SAG-AFTRA or its allies today to mark the Indigenous Peoples Day holiday.
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