WGA’s Compensation Battle Heightened by Rampant Inflation, Low Scale Hikes in Recent Years
The conversation about a new WGA contract has centered on the streaming economy, and how writers can make their way in a world of shorter TV seasons and slackening demand for shows.
But setting industry trends aside, there’s another major factor that’s putting the squeeze on writers: inflation.
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The WGA last updated its contract minimums in 2020, just before inflation soared to its highest levels in 40 years. The contract provided annual increases in weekly minimums of 1.5%, 2.5% and 2.25%.
With inflation climbing as high as 9.1% in 2022, and still stuck at 6%, those nominal increases have turned out be represent sharp cuts in terms of buying power.
The WGA has already indicated that it is seeking well above the standard 2%-3% annual raises. That should come as no surprise — unions across the country are negotiating first-year wage increases on the order of 5%-7%, the highest in decades, according to an analysis by Bloomberg Law.
The current guild minimum for a TV writer-producer is $7,412 per week. On a network show, the median writer-producer works between 35-40 weeks, for a total of $259,420 to $296,480, if that writer is paid minimum. Most experienced writers can negotiate something above that through their agents — and for showrunners and executive producers, it’s well above that.
Schedules are shorter on streaming shows, which produce fewer episodes, according to data released earlier this month by the guild. The median writer-producer on those shows works 20-24 weeks, for a minimum salary range of $148,240 to $177,888.
But that’s a pay cut from what minimums were during the last negotiation, when factoring in inflation. During the 2019-20 TV season, the guild minimum for a writer-producer was $6,967 per week. In today’s dollars, that would be $8,184, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ CPI calculator.
To keep up with that in the upcoming contract, the WGA would need to negotiate a first-year increase of 10%.
The same issue affects script fees, which increased 1%, 2.5% and 2.25% in the 2020 contract. At current rates, a writer-producer on most TV shows earns a minimum of $41,773 for each 60-minute script, or $28,403 for each 30-minute script. Those fees would need to increase 11% in order to match the buying power of the script fees in 2019-20.
Staff writers — the lowest-level writers — do not get script fees, and they also earn significantly lower weekly minimums. The median staff writer on a network show works 29 weeks for a wage of $131,834, while the median staff writer on a streaming show works 20 weeks for $90,920. The staff writer’s weekly minimum — $4,546 — would likewise need to rise 10% to equal the minimum in 2019-20 in inflation-adjusted terms.
In the 2020 contract, the guild agreed to reduced percentage increases in minimums in order to divert money to shore up the pension plan. The guild likewise agreed to lower minimums in the 2014 contract to stabilize the health fund.
A raise at the bottom of the wage scale would tend to push other wages higher as well. However, the guild has argued that over the last decade, a higher proportion of TV writers are being paid at minimum rates.
In 1981, the WGA went on strike for 13 weeks at a time when inflation was above 10% and had recently been as high as 14%. One of the main issues — in addition to the pay TV formula — was an increase in minimums. The Directors Guild of America ultimately reached a deal for 12% increases in the first year, followed by 12% in the second year and 11% in the third. The WGA settled on broadly the same terms.
The 2023 negotiations began March 20 at the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers headquarters in Sherman Oaks. The talks are expected to go for another week before they take a two-week pause. The contract expires on May 1, at which point there could be a strike if no agreement is reached. The DGA is set to begin bargaining on May 10.
The WGA had said that its goals include addressing the “abuse of mini rooms,” residuals, and other issues. But, the leadership says, all the issues can be boiled down to three words: “compensation, compensation, compensation.”
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