WGA strike ends after more than 5 months, deal still faces final vote
LOS ANGELES - Leadership with the Writers Guild of America voted unanimously to recommend a new three-year deal with Hollywood studios, while announcing an end to the five-plus-month strike.
The union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced the tentative deal on Sunday. On Tuesday, the WGA shared on X, formerly Twitter, that the "Negotiating Committee, the WGAW (West) Board and WGAE (East) Council all voted unanimously to recommend the agreement." The union also announced that the strike, which began on May 2, would end on Sept. 27 at 12:01 a.m.
According to the union's website, this means that writers will be able to return to work while the deal still needs to be ratified by union members.
The full deal can be read on the WGA's website here.
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As part of the deal, the minimum wage would increase for television writers by 5% this year, with a 4% increase in 2024, and a 3.5% increase in 2025. Writers would also get residuals based on a tier system that would pay writers based on the length of the program. That would begin for any projects that air after the new year.
The deal also includes stipulations for the use of artificial intelligence, one of the more hotly-contested issues at the negotiating table.
The tentative agreement states that:
- The two sides will regulate the use of artificial intelligence
- Writers can choose to use AI if they want, but cannot be forced by their company to use AI
- Studios must tell writers if anything they're given was created by AI
- And "Guild reserves right to assert that exploitation of writers’ material to train AI is prohibited by MBA or other law."
News of the agreement was hailed by local leaders and even President Joe Biden, who applauded both sides for reaching a tentative deal "that will allow writers to return to the important work of telling the stories of our nation, our world -- and of all of us."
"This agreement, including assurances related to artificial intelligence, did not come easily," Biden said in a statement. "But its formation is a testament to the power of collective bargaining. There simply is no substitute for employers and employees coming together to negotiate in good faith toward an agreement that makes a business stronger and secures the pay, benefits, and dignity that workers deserve. I urge all employers to remember that all workers -- including writers, actors, and autoworkers -- deserve a fair share of the value their labor helped create."
The deal is still pending a ratification vote by union members.
City News Service contributed to this report.