Wed Feb 13, 2008 2:41PM3 comments ›
Wed Feb 13, 2008 — by Chris Ullrich
Writers Strike 'Officially' Over
Breaktime is over. Now get back to work!
As reported by most major outlets that cover this sort of thing, including my old stomping grounds LAist and Cinematical, the Writers Strike is "officially" over.
Even though it was pretty much a foregone conclusion and the ratification vote was basically a formality, the Writer's Guild of America still had to go through the process of having a vote to determine if the membership at-large would accept their new contract.
Well, no surprise, the writers voted to accept the contract by a 92.5% margin. Read the official letter from the WGA's leadeship giving everyone the good news after the jump:
To Our Fellow Members:
On Tuesday, members of the Writers Guilds East and West voted by a 92.5% margin to lift the restraining order that was invoked on November 5th. The strike is over.
Writing can resume immediately. If you were employed when the strike began, you should plan to report to work on Wednesday. If you're not employed at an office or other work site, call or e-mail your employer that you are resuming work. If you have been told not to report to work or resume your services, we recommend that you still notify your employer in writing of your availability to do so. Questions concerning return-to-work issues should be directed to the WGAW legal department at 323.782.4521 or the WGAE’s assistant executive director Ann Toback at 212-767-7823.
The decision to begin this strike was not taken lightly and was only made after no other reasonable alternative was possible. We are profoundly aware of the economic loss these fourteen weeks have created not only for our members but so many other colleagues who work in the television and motion picture industries. Nonetheless, with the establishment of the WGA jurisdiction over new media and residual formulas based on distributor’s gross revenue (among other gains) we are confident that the results are a significant achievement not only for ourselves but the entire creative community, now and in the future.
We hope to build upon the extraordinary energy, ingenuity, and solidarity that were generated by your hard work during the strike.
Over the next weeks and months, we will be in touch with you to discuss and develop ways we can use our unprecedented unity to make our two guilds stronger and more effective than ever.
Now that the strike has ended, there remains the vote to ratify the new contract. Ballots and information on the new deal, both pro and con, will be mailed to you shortly. You will be able to return those ballots via mail or at a membership meeting to be held Monday, February 25th, 2008, at times and locations to be determined.
Thank you for making it possible. As ever, we are all in this together.
Best,
Patric M. Verrone
President, WGAW
Michael Winship
President, WGAE
As I posted before, this means that writers, show runners and all the other staff responsible for your favorite TV shows and movies can get back to work making your favorite TV seres and films. It's a great day to be a fan of movies and TV and I, for one, can't wait to settle in for more of my favorite shows and movies.
Plus, as someone with many friends out of work here in LA due to the strike (writers and others in related jobs) it's fantastic that they can get back to work, too. I hope the writers got everything they wanted and I hope this leads to better contracts for other Guilds and Unions whose negotiations are coming up.
Yes SAG, I'm talking about you.
Jump to comments (3)
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Comments (3)
Vinnie Bartilucci (3:30 PM on Wed Feb 13, 2008)
So should we all celebrate by downloading an episode of a show? Get that royalty money flowing?
John Ostrander (4:13 PM on Wed Feb 13, 2008)
If I understand it correctly, THIS vote was not about accepting the contract. THIS vote was about stopping the strike action which was, as you noted, overwhelmingly approved. The vote to accept the contract still has to go forward and, no doubt, WILL be approved.
Given that the SAG membership really supported the WGA and enabled them to get what they've gotten. I expect that the SAG will get AT LEAST what the WGA got. The biggest news out of the strike, IMHO, is how the WGA and the SAG found solidarity together. That CAN'T be something the producers were hoping to see.
Chris Ullrich (4:40 PM on Wed Feb 13, 2008)
John, you understand it perfectly. This vote was to end the strike and get back to work, which was tantamount to accepting the new contract. However, their will still be yet another vote in the near future to actually ratify it.
Regarding SAG, I'm not so sure they will end up with the same thing the WGA got, but it may be similar. Each makes an important contribution to the whole project, but those contributions are different and should probably carry with them a different structure for residuals, etc. In many ways I consider the writer to have more of an “authorship” role on a film or TV show and as such they should be entitled to larger share in any profits, etc.
Actors, on the other hand, while very important to the process, are not as much of a creative force on most projects as the writer – especially in TV. Anyway, whatever happens, I guess we'll find out in June.