WGA Members To Vote On Ratification of the Tentative Contract
By Dolores Quintana
After The Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on Sunday night at 7:38 p.m., writers and the rest of the entertainment industry were waiting for bated breath for the terms of the deal. This evening, the WGA sent out an email to their members and announced the tentative deal with a link to the full terms on their website with a social media post that said, “The WGA reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. Today, our Negotiating Committee, WGAW Board, and WGAE Council all voted unanimously to recommend the agreement. The strike ends at 12:01 a.m.”
In the hours after the announcement, writers reacted with stunned amazement at the deal the WGA Negotiating Team had hammered out. The contract won historic concessions on AI, with guaranteed protections for writers, minimum increases, Increased Health, and Pension Contribution Rates Increased Health and Pension Contributions for Writing Teams Improved Terms for Screenwriter Employment, Improved Terms in High Budget Subscription Video on Demand (HBSVOD), including Streaming Data Transparency, Increased foreign streaming residuals, and Viewership-based streaming bonus, Minimum Terms for Advertising-Supported Streaming (AVOD), Increased Compensation for Series Employment: Weekly Pay and Staff Writer Script Fees, Staffing and Duration Provisions for Episodic Series, Improved Options, Exclusivity, and Span Protections, Guaranteed compensation and 13-week minimums for Comedy/Variety writers in streaming.
As writer, showrunner, and producer Glen Mazzara said on Twitter, “Extraordinary deal. So many wins. Well done.”
On the subject of the Screen Actors Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike, WGA Negotiating Committee member Greg Iwinski tweeted, “This was only possible because of extraordinary support and sacrifice from across the industry. So with my whole chest, in case anyone is worried, we are not closing the door behind us and moving on… we are kicking that thing off its hinges. Let’s get EVERYONE fair contracts.”
On the deal website, the WGA added, “The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has achieved a historic breakthrough by reaching a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for a new three-year Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA). On September 26th, the Negotiating Committee, the WGAW Board, and the WGAE Council unanimously endorsed the agreement. It is now set for ratification by the guilds’ memberships.
Eligible voters will have the opportunity to cast their votes from October 2nd through October 9th. Voting materials, including the ballot and ratification materials, will be distributed when the vote period begins.
In addition to this significant development, the WGAW Board and WGAE Council have also voted to lift the restraining order and officially conclude the strike, effective at 12:01 a.m. PT/3:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday, September 27th. This decision enables writers to return to work during the ratification process while preserving the membership’s right to make the ultimate determination on contract approval.
With the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) now finalized, comprehensive details of the groundbreaking deal are set to be shared. The agreement is lauded for its substantial gains and enhanced protections benefiting members across all sectors of the industry.”
