Since May 2, 2023, members of the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) have been on strike in an unprecedented move that has seen Hollywood production schedules screech to a halt. Representing writers working in TV, film, and other disciplines throughout America, the union has seen its efforts at the picket line bolstered by support from across the nation.
The strike is now passed the 100-day mark, a cause its members have called existential to their profession. In recent weeks, they’ve been joined by famous acting guild SAG-AFTRA as they turn up the heat in their battle for what they feel is a fair deal.
Speaking recently to guild members, WGA Negotiating Committee Co-Chair Chris Keyser said, “It’s their 2007 playbook applied to 2023 as if nothing has changed, as if the accumulation of economic insults and injuries over the past decade would be borne in perpetual silence, as if the giant of labor had not awakened. But it has and you only need to look as far as the front gates of every studio in LA and New York to see the evidence.”
“Two unions on strike, willing to exercise their power despite the pain to ensure their members get the contract they deserve,” said Keyser outlining the struggle faced by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA.
A number of famous writers have taken to social media to support their fellow creatives.
World famous author of the ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ book series George R.R. Martin joined his guildmates picketing in Santa Fe, stating on his notablog website, “The pickets have gotten bigger since the actors joined us, and you may see some familiar faces holding signs.”
Stating that he first joined the WGA in 1986, Martin spoke of several strikes but said, “this year’s strike is the most important of my lifetime. An unnamed producer was quoted last week saying the AMPTP strategy was to stand fast until the writers started losing their homes and apartments, which gives you a hint of what we’re facing.”
‘Snowfall’ writer Sal Calleros tweeted his support for the strike, stating on social media, “The Shield put FX on the map. Mad Men put AMC on the map. House of Cards put Netflix on the map. Writers did that. Not some CEO. Know what you get when you put CEOs in creative lanes? You get Quibi.”
The guild’s first strike in years follows a grueling six-week negotiating period with broadcasting and streaming giants under the umbrella of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The group includes Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony.
On their official site, the WGA accused the companies’ of “refusing any guaranteed weekly employment for writers on episodic TV shows, to the creation of a “day rate” in comedy variety, to their stonewalling on free work for screenwriters and on AI for all writers,” among other things.
Ismael David Mujahid
Managing Editor