Writers Guild Tells Members That Studios May Not Be Serious About Restarting Talks to Make a Deal
A day before the Writers Guild of America is set to meet with the group representing Hollywood studios and streamers in contract negotiations, the union is warning its members that management may not be willing yet to cede serious ground.
“We won’t prejudge what’s to come. But playbooks die hard,” the WGA negotiating committee wrote in a message to members on Thursday afternoon. The negotiating committee summarized its version of how the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers handled the WGA’s 2007-08 strike: “After negotiations broke off on October 31st causing the strike, they resumed in late November only to break off for a second time in December as the strike continued. Why? Because when the companies came back to the table they weren’t serious about addressing the WGA’s proposals.”
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In a comment on Thursday, the AMPTP called the WGA’s rhetoric “unfortunate.” The group stated, “Tomorrow’s discussion with the WGA is to determine whether we have a willing bargaining partner. The WGA Bargaining Committee’s rhetoric is unfortunate.” The AMPTP added, “This strike has hurt thousands of people in this industry, and we take that very seriously. Our only playbook is getting people back to work.”
The message arrived prior to a planned Friday meeting between leaders for the WGA and the AMPTP, which will be the first gathering of the warring parties since the union called a strike on May 2. AMPTP president Carol Lombardini requested the meeting with the union to discuss negotiations, the WGA told its members on Tuesday.
Still, it’s clear from the WGA’s message that the union is approaching the upcoming gathering with caution. “We challenge the studios and AMPTP to come to the meeting they called for this Friday with a new playbook: Be willing to make a fair deal and begin to repair the damage your strikes and your business practices have caused the workers in this industry,” the negotiating committee said. “Until then, our fellow writers, we will see you on the lines.”
The union additionally claimed that “every step of the way through this struggle, the AMPTP has run its tired anti-union playbook straight out of the 2007/08 strike.” Noting that the writers’ strike has lasted 94 days, the negotiating committee added, “We have not come all this way, and sacrificed this much, to half-save ourselves.”
As THR reported on Wednesday, writers, including former WGA leaders, initially greeted the news that the AMPTP and their union would meet on Friday with cautious optimism. “I hope they’re serious, I hope that they are coming to this with a much more open mind than they had last time,” three-time negotiating committee chair Billy Ray said. Added former WGA West president Howard Rodman, “One hopes that the AMPTP may at long last grasp that the cost of negotiating a fair deal is less than the cost of an ongoing strike. But Friday’s conversation is, quite simply, a single and very preliminary step.”
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