members have voted overwhelmingly to approve a pattern of demands for the guild’s upcoming negotiations with management’s AMPTP for a new film and TV contract. The vote was 3,028 who voted yes and 308 who voted no. By comparison, in 2017, 1,626 members voted: 1,557 voted yes and 69 voted no.
One of WGA’s demands would “require signatory companies to negotiate only with agents franchised by the WGA.” That could spark a strike come May 1, when the guild’s current contract expires, because it seeks to drag the major studios and production companies into the guild’s 10-month battle with Hollywood’s major talent agencies.
WGA West president David A. Goodman and WGA East president Beau Willimon told guild members last week that the pattern of demands was “unanimously recommended by our Negotiating Committee, and by the governing bodies of both Guilds: the WGA West’s Board of Directors and the WGA East’s Council.” No date has been set yet for the start of negotiations, but they won’t start until the Directors Guild wraps its negotiations with the AMPTP, which get underway Monday. The two guild presidents also said that “Members will have a chance to give feedback to the Negotiating Committee about approach and priorities during member meetings in March.”