LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — On Wednesday, the Writers Guild of America officially ended its strike against film and television studios after the union’s leadership voted unanimously to recommend a new contract.
The contract still requires ratification from the union’s rank and file, with the vote scheduled to take place from October 2nd through October 9th, the Union stated.
However, while waiting for the final ratification, union leadership voted to lift the restraining order and end the strike as of 12:01 a.m. PT/3:01 a.m. ET on Wednesday, September 27th, bringing an end to a strike that brought Hollywood to a halt for five months.
The vote to end the strike allows writers to return to work during the ratification process but does not affect the membership’s right to make a final determination on contract approval.
Under the terms of the proposed new contract with studios, writers obtained increases in pay, as well as an increase in health and pension contributions from studios and expanded pensions and health care benefits for members.
The new deal with studios also secured improved contract terms for writers, including increased foreign streaming residuals, viewership-based streaming bonuses, and greater transparency in viewership data from streaming platforms.
The unions also secured protections for writers from the use of artificial intelligence systems in content creation. Under the terms of the proposed contract, AI won’t be allowed to write or rewrite literary material but a writer can use AI to assist their writing if they comply with existing company policies.
In addition, the union secured new rules for writer’s development rooms for high-budget streaming video-on-demand shows, stipulating that such a project must have three writers at a minimum and that writing staff must be guaranteed a minimum of 20 weeks of work on the project.
The full summary of the contact memorandum of understanding is available here: https://www.wgacontract2023.org/the-campaign/summary-of-the-2023-wga-mba
