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EXCLUSIVE: As the striking actors’ guild sits down with studio bosses today for their first new talks in more than 80 days, the writers are one step closer to officially ending their nearly 150-day labor dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
“We strongly support this proposed treaty and encourage you to vote for its ratification,” said Meredith Stiehm, president of the Writers Guild of America West, and Lisa Takeuchi, president of the WGA East, in a joint message to guild members this morning ended up in the inboxes of writers – Read the full email below.
More than 11,000 WGA members on both coasts received their ratification ballots and support materials via email on Monday. The tentative agreement reached by guild negotiators with studio CEOs on April 24th The meeting, which met in September, received unanimous support from the WGA West Board and the WGA East Council and is now open to “members in good standing” who can say yes or no to it.
Online voting began today at 10 a.m. PT and ends October 9 at 1 p.m. PT. “Results will be posted on the WGAW and WGAE websites after voting is complete,” said the letter to members Monday about the deal, which took nearly five months on the picket lines of writers to secure .
Beginning September 20, David Zaslav of Warner Bros. Discovery, Ted Sarandos of Netflix, Donna Langley of NBCUniversal and Bob Iger of Disney sat down at the negotiating table directly across from WGA negotiator Ellen Stutzman as well as former guild presidents David Goodman and Chris Keyser, to negotiate a deal on controversial topics such as AI, residuals, staffing levels in the writers’ room and data transparency. A tentative agreement was announced just before sunset on September 24, when Yom Kippur was set to begin.
The agreement was approved by WGA leadership on both coasts last week and the strike officially ended at 12:01 a.m. PT on September 28, allowing writers to return to work
The long-awaited message to members was fairly straightforward and almost boring, especially given a nearly five-month strike that has crippled Hollywood, and actually contained some news.
The WGA has scheduled an “in-person meeting at the end of the voting period to answer any questions about the tentative agreement,” the guild said today. I understand that WGA chief negotiator Stutzman is expected to be present at the meeting, scheduled for October 9th at 12 p.m. At next Monday’s noon meeting at the guild’s Fairfax and 3rd Avenue headquarters, online voting will be “available” to those members who require it.
This in-person question and answer session is required as part of the interim three-year contract, which runs from September 25, 2023 to May 31, 2026.
As for AMPTP and SAG-AFTRA, their first day of consultations on Monday at their Wilshire offices appears to be going fairly smoothly, with everyone getting reacquainted after nearly three months without formal discussions.
READ THE FULL WGA RATIFICATION EMAIL SENT TO MEMBERS TODAY HERE:
Dear members,
This email serves as a notice of your right to vote on the ratification of the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) 2023. We urge you to vote for ratification. The proposed agreement comes with the unanimous support of the 2023 Negotiating Committee. It also enjoys the support of the WGAW Board of Directors and the WGAE Council, both of which voted unanimously in favor of ratification on September 25.
Contract information:
Information about the negotiations and the tentative agreement can be found on the WGA website. In particular, you should check the following:
The complete tentative agreement codified in this Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).
A brief summary of the MOA.
A comparison table showing the status of negotiations on May 1st and what we have achieved after 148 days of strike.
FAQ explaining the new contract conditions.
How to Select: The 2023 MBA is subject to ratification by the joint membership of the Writers Guild East and West. Eligible WGAW members in good standing may vote online beginning Monday, October 2, 2023 at 10 a.m. by clicking here. You can also access online voting by clicking on the 2023 WGA Contract website. Your username is your last name and your password is your eight-digit member ID number, which can be found on your guild membership card.
Membership Meeting: WGAW will hold an in-person meeting at the end of the voting period to address any remaining questions about the tentative agreement. The meeting will be held on October 9, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. on the second floor of the Guild Headquarters, 7000 W. Third St., Los Angeles, CA 90048. Please sign in here. Online voting will be possible at the meeting.
Voting period ends October 9, 2023 at 1:00 p.m. PDT. Results will be posted on the WGAW and WGAE websites once voting is complete.
We strongly support the proposed treaty and encourage you to vote for its ratification.
SOLIDARIC,
MEREDITH STIEHM, PRESIDENT,
WGAW
LISA TAKEUCHI CULLEN, WGAE
Denise Petski contributed to this report