New York State Senate, Assembly Members Call on AMPTP to “Negotiate in Good Faith” With WGA Amid Stalled Contract Talks

Abbey White
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Over 50 members from the New York State Senate and Assembly have signed two separate letters calling on the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to return to the bargaining table with the Writers Guild.

One letter from the senate and one from the assembly were delivered to AMPTP Friday morning, which marks one month since the current writers strike began. The letters, addressed to the studio association’s president, Carol Lombardini, urge the group and “its affiliated companies” to listen to the issues WGA has put forth on behalf of its writers.

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“We understand that, despite many weeks at the bargaining table, the AMPTP rejected a range of Writers Guild proposals that are essential to the well-being of writers in the episodic television, comedy-variety and feature film areas,” both letters state. “We call on the AMPTP, and its affiliated companies, to listen closely to what their writers are telling them about the difficulties in maintaining careers as streaming continues to transform the industry. We call on you to negotiate in good faith to reach a reasonable agreement with the Writers Guilds.”

Senator Jessica Ramos and Assemblywoman Latoya Joyner, both Democrats, were the letters’ chief organizers, and the letters received the support of 19 state senators and 33 assembly members.

“The writers on strike aren’t just standing up for dignified wages. This contract fight gets to the heart of existential issues facing the future of work,” Ramos said in a statement. “My colleagues and I are proud to stand with the Writers Guild in their demands for good faith bargaining.”

Joyner, who also serves as chair of the Assembly Labor Committee, added in her own statement, “The members of the Writers Guild are at the heart of New York’s creative community, and they bring an incredible energy and vitality that makes our state a truly dynamic and exciting place to live. I am proud to have so many of my colleagues join me in urging the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to reach a contract with the Writers Guild that truly recognizes the talent of their members and treats them fairly and with respect.”

Among the issues addressed in the letters is New York’s expanded film production tax credit for the 2024 fiscal year. The incentive, the assembly letter notes, “provides hundreds of millions of dollars in tax credits every year to companies represented by the Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers.”

Both letters call it “disturbing” that the companies “that will benefit enormously from this expanded tax credit have failed to negotiate a collective bargaining agreement with the Writers Guilds of America, East and West, whose members are on strike across the country.”

The letters come just a day after Netflix shareholders rejected executive pay packages for 2023 totaling over $150 million, a move the Writers Guild supported. The vote was non-binding and can be overruled by the streamer’s board. (The union sent a similar letter to Comcast shareholders, who are set to hold their meeting next week.)

“Netflix’s board needs to spend less time thinking up ways to pay its executive team more money and instead address the writers’ strike that is delaying major shows like #StrangerThings,” the WGA East tweeted out on Thursday.

“While investors have long taken issue with Netflix’s executive pay, the compensation structure is more egregious against the backdrop of the strike,” WGA West president Meredith Stiehm wrote in the letter to Netflix shareholders ahead of the vote.

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