WGA & AMPTP strike ‘tentative’ deal to end US writers strike after five months

(CC: Izayah Ramos – unsplash)

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has reached a “tentative agreement” with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), paving the way for an end to the US strike after almost five months.

The development, which came after five days of talks following the resumption of formal discussions last week, was confirmed in a statement from the WGA and AMPTP late yesterday.

Just what has been agreed upon within the new Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) will emerge in the coming days, but the WGA described the new pact as “exceptional”.

It will now pass the deal to the boards of the WGA’s East and West coast divisions, which are set to vote on the new pact on Tuesday.

Assuming the proposals pass this hurdle, the agreement will then be put before the WGA’s 11,000 members for ratification.

Specifics & timeline

“We have reached a tentative agreement on a new 2023 MBA, which is to say an agreement in principle on all deal points, subject to drafting final contract language,” the WGA told its members.

The union said it had secured “meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership”, with picketing now suspended, although the strike remains in place until the deal if ratified by members.

“What we have won in this contract – most particularly, everything we have gained since 2 May – is due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power, to demonstrate its solidarity, to walk side-by-side, to endure the pain and uncertainty of the past 146 days,” its note to members stated.

“It is the leverage generated by your strike, in concert with the extraordinary support of our union siblings, that finally brought the companies back to the table to make a deal.”

The use of artificial intelligence was among the last hurdles, US reports claimed, while the issue of writer room staffing minimums has been settled via a “sliding scale depending on the number of episodes produced per season”, according to Variety.

Top brass at the US studios – including Netflix’s Ted Sarandos, Disney’s Bob Iger, Warner Bros Discovery chief David Zaslav and NBCUniversal Donna Langley – all took active roles in discussions.

The WGA deal is likely to speed up negotiations between the AMPTP and Actors union SAG-AFTRA, which remains on strike and will mean scripted series (and films) will not return to shooting just yet.

The actors union praised the new deal, adding: “SAG-AFTRA congratulates the WGA on reaching a tentative agreement with the AMPTP after 146 days of incredible strength, resiliency and solidarity on the picket lines.

“While we look forward to reviewing the WGA and AMPTP’s tentative agreement, we remain committed to achieving the necessary terms for our members.”

Background & context

Hopes of a deal have been rising over the past six weeks, following a counter offer made by the AMPTP that was described by the WGA as “neither nothing, nor nearly enough”.

First put forward on 11 August but only made public a week later, the studio and streamer union president Carol Lombardini describing the “comprehensive package” as meeting “the priority concerns” of writers, but the WGA said that the overall package “failed to sufficiently protect writers” and required further discussion.

Talks were then formally restarted last week with the intense discussions taking place over recent days leading to yesterday’s news.

The WGA has been on strike since 2 May, with actor’s union SAG-AFTRA also halting work, bringing Hollywood productions to a standstill and costing the California economy around $5bn.