Hollywood's longest and most costly labor strike has ended.
Late in the day on Sunday, September 24 — after 146 days of labor stoppage, the longest strike in Hollywood history by a long shot — the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which represents Hollywood's writers, and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), an association of Hollywood's largest studios and production companies, announced that an agreement had been reached. On Tuesday, September 26, the union's leadership announced that they'd voted to end the strike and recommended the membership vote in favor of ratifying the contract.
The strike officially ended in the wee hours of Wednesday, September 27, and the union's membership will begin their vote on Monday, October 2. For many, this moment is one for celebration. President Joe Biden, who is set to join striking auto workers on their picket line on Tuesday, issued a statement applauding the writers' tentative deal. "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," he said.
Following the leadership's vote to end the strike and recommend that the membership ratify the contract, the WGA released details of the new agreement via a simplified memorandum of agreement (MOA). "We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional — with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership," they announced.
The exact language of the contract is yet to be released. But from the WGA summary, it appears the union was successful in its effort. The MOA includes increases to minimum wage and compensation, increased pension and health fund rates, improvements to terms for length of employment and size of writing teams (which had been shrinking drastically in recent years), and better residuals (which are like royalties), including foreign streaming residuals.
The MOA also lays out terms for artificial intelligence, with an agreement that doesn't prevent writers or productions from making use of generative AI but prohibits using software to reduce or eliminate writers and their pay.
