New Contract Approved by WGA Board

Posted on May 9, 2001

The board of the Writers Guild of America, west and the council of the WGA, east, have voted unanimously to approve the terms of the proposed 2001 contract and to recommend that the 11,000 members of the guilds vote to ratify the contract. A ratified contract will end about four months of negotiations between the WGA and the America and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) representing the studios and major production companies, ABC, CBS and NBC. The final ratification vote will be determined by a majority of the combined east-west votes. The guilds anticipate announcing the final tally on Tuesday, June 5th.

The organizations agreed to a news blackout while they were discussing a remedy to their disagreements. The deadline for the strike was midnight on May 1st, but negotiations continued until May 4th, when a tentative agreement was reached. A strike could not have officially started until ratified by union members.

The new contract provides for $41 million in additional pay for writers over the next three years. The contract provides pay increases for residual payments for foreign television and Internet downloads. The contract also states that Fox will have to pay what the other networks (ABC, NBC and CBS) pay writers by 2003. The writers did not get everything they wanted including increases in residuals for Cable TV reruns of network TV shows.

A writers strike could have potentially caused layoffs, lost earnings for Hollywood and disappointed viewers. Los Angeles Mayor Richard J. Riordan had stated that a strike could have cost the region $6.9 billion in income if it lasted six months. The writers felt the strike was necessary because they were due for a wage increase. Producers and studio heads argued that agreeing to the WGA's terms could cost them hundreds of millions a year, plus it could result in other guilds asking for similar increases.