Negotiators for the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance Of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have resumed contract talks on Wednesday.
The parties sat down for two weeks starting on March 20 to address the Guild’s demands for higher compensation and other issues and were expected to take a two-week break while the Guild set a strike authorisation vote.
The Guild promptly did so and has invited membership to vote online from April 11-17.
The current three-year WGA contract expires on May 1, setting the scene for a possible strike sometime after that date should negotiators fail to agree terms.
The writers have shown themselves to be willing to take industrial action and negotiate hard for their demands.
The group went on strike for 100 days in late 2007/early 2008 and recently pushed successfully for an end to agency TV packaging fees and got the agencies to divest themselves of majority ownership stakes in production entities.
Of particular concern to the writers in this round of talks are adequate compensation for residuals in the streaming age, and a focus on “mini rooms” used in the TV sector.
The DGA directors Guild and SAG-AFTRA actors guils are also preparing to negotiate in advance of the expiration of their contracts on June 30.
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