Members of the Writers Guild of America have agreed to a list of contract priorities in upcoming labor negotiations with studios and streamers that include supporting the guild’s health plan, expanding artificial intelligence protections, and improving compensation.
More than 97 percent of participating union members voted to approve the bargaining list ahead of negotiations that begin with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on March 16, the union said Friday.
The pattern of demands released Friday depicts a labor group focused on increasing contributions to their benefit plans and increasing the maximum amount employers can pay into the plans. like Hollywood Reporter I previously reported that the WGA’s health fund cumulatively lost $122 million in 2023 and 2024, according to tax filings, as a decline in Hollywood work and general health care inflation took their toll.
Although the pattern of demands has been light on detail – the union is still keeping its specific proposals close to the vest for now – artificial intelligence will be another point of discussion. Although the WGA’s protections in its 2023 contract were generally considered strong, the federation indicates it wants to expand them as technology develops.
As with all unions, the WGA is determined to enhance compensation for its members. The pattern of demands indicates that the union will attempt to increase minimum compensation rates, raise minimums for “front page” rewrites, increase scraps for reuse in live broadcasts and focus on pay rates for writers in post-production as well as comedy/variety, competition and audience writers.
The working group will also have a set of demands related to common industry practices. The union has long objected to the “freelance” required of writers, and will try to crush the issue in negotiations again this year. The WGA wants to expand on the breakthrough it made in its 2023 negotiations when it secured a second “step,” or pay point, for screenwriters. Finally, it also wants to strengthen barriers around “if/then” deals, on-screen roundtables, and TV series hiring.
The union previously discussed these goals with members at meetings held at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Los Angeles on February 11 and at the DC 37 office in New York on February 17. Two more member meetings were scheduled to discuss these key items but were then canceled once the union’s West Coast employees went on strike.
This year, the WGA is following performers union SAG-AFTRA in its negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios and streamers in labor negotiations. SAG-AFTRA announced Friday that it began negotiations on February 9 and will continue through next week.
This will be the first time the WGA has been at the negotiating table with major companies – including Netflix and Warner Bros. Universal and Paramount, among others — have since launched a 148-day strike over issues including compensation in the streaming era and generative artificial intelligence in 2023.
Since then, the industry has experienced a painful downturn that has squeezed hiring at all levels of the business. In 2024, one year after the WGA strike, employment of writers was down 9.4 percent from the previous year (the year of the strike, which de facto restricts employment) and 24.3 percent lower than in 2022, according to the union’s annual financial report.
Union negotiations will be led by Chief Negotiator Ellen Stutzman, who will be flanked by Negotiating Committee Co-Chairs John Auguste and Daniel Sanchez-Witzel. AMPTP will be piloted by new president Gregory Hissinger, who succeeds longtime president Carole Lombardini in 2025.
