In response to the latest proposal by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) delivered its counterpoints on Tuesday. However, any anticipation of a swift resolution to the ongoing 106-day strike was dashed.
Sources closely involved in the negotiations have indicated that the WGA did exhibit a degree of flexibility on certain aspects. Yet, it's worth noting that the union's negotiating team refrained from offering substantial concessions that the studios had been seeking in response to their proposition.
One point of contention revolves around the WGA's insistence on establishing a minimum staff size for television writers. While they did show a willingness to reduce this minimum requirement by a single writer, the WGA remained unmoved by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) counteroffer, which proposed granting showrunners the authority to hire up to a predetermined minimum number of writers. This number would escalate based on the production budget.
Nevertheless, this is just one of the many unresolved issues. Both sides remain at odds across various matters, including the structure of streaming residuals and a higher baseline for compensation for TV writer-producers.
Despite certain studio insiders' optimism that the AMPTP's most recent proposal could potentially break the deadlock, the WGA's negotiation team had exercised caution. They advised their members against placing too much trust in studio leaks suggesting an imminent deal.
The two negotiating parties reconvened at the bargaining table on the previous Friday, marking the first round of negotiations since the strike's commencement on May 2.
According to initial reports from Bloomberg, personal involvement from Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, and Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, has been noted in their pursuit of resolving the strike.
One central demand of the WGA is the linkage of streaming residuals to a show's popularity. However, streaming platforms have consistently resisted disclosing viewership data. Nonetheless, the recent proposal from the AMPTP featured an offer to share the number of hours each show was being viewed, though it would not directly affect writers' compensation. Despite this, the WGA remains committed to its original proposal, raising queries about whether “hours” accurately capture the appropriate metric compared to “views.”
It's not expected that the WGA would swiftly embrace the AMPTP's latest proposition, as there's a prevailing understanding that intense negotiations are yet to be conducted before an agreement can be achieved. However, the studio hoped that both sides would have moved closer to a consensus by this point.
In addition to its other demands, the WGA also aims to secure a provision that permits its members to support picket lines of other unions. This could imply that many writers would likely return to work once the strike involving the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) resolves, as both unions have explicitly displayed solidarity.
The AMPTP, as of now, appears unwilling to accept this proposition, which was initially proposed on August 4.
Furthermore, the WGA seeks assurances that their union health plan's financial stability will be upheld throughout the strike, ensuring members do not lose health coverage due to the ongoing strike.
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