Unless contract negotiations are finalized by May 1, 2023, the Writers Guild of America will be on strike for the first time since 2007. Yesterday, the union reported that over 97% of voters said YES to a strike action.
This potential strike is being motivated by several straightforward concerns, and has several similarly straightforward demands. Cost of living has gone up–and is particularly bad in the Greater Los Angeles area–and those under the union have fairly poor benefits. The rise of streaming and changes to how productions are ordered has undercut even the best paid within the union, and put bluntly many within the industry do not make a living wage and are increasingly analogous to gig workers. Job security is increasingly difficult, particularly with the ongoing layoffs in the industry–allegedly motivated by a need to cut costs. The union is seeking, according to NPR, "an increase in minimum pay, more residual payments from streaming, as well as increased contributions to its health and pension plans."
This is not the first showdown of this sort between the modern media industry and those within it, it should be noted–in 2021, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) narrowly averted a strike.1 From the outside looking in, though, it seems substantially more likely that no bailout will occur here as did with IATSE.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP)–with which the media unions such as IATSE and WGA negotiate–has not shown much interest in capitulating to WGA's demands, particularly given that a precedent set with WGA will likely have ramifications for future negotiations with SAG-AFTRA2 and the Directors Guild of America. Likewise, WGA members are in an even more desperate situation generally than IATSE members, who two years ago had a majority for striking. It seems very unlikely they will settle for an IATSE-style agreement, especially in light of the trajectory of the past two years. We'll see what happens, though.
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Although a narrow majority in the union were in favor of rejecting the proposed agreement and going on strike, IATSE uses a delegate system similar to the Electoral College–and in that system the agreement passed.
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The cumbersomely-named Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. They represent about 160,000 people in the professions of acting, journalism, singing, voice acting, modeling, and miscellaneous other media professions.