Members of the Writers Guild of America gave the green light on Friday to a four-year deal with studios and streamers that would stem the bleeding on the union’s faltering health plan.
The unusually long agreement, which pumps $321 million into the plan, has been supported Just over 90 percent of members rejected by 9.6 percent in the ratification vote.
“In the face of industry contraction and runaway inflation in health care costs, the writers were able to secure a contract that puts our health fund back on a sustainable path and builds on the gains made from the 2023 strike,” WGA West President Michelle Mulroney said in a statement.
The results arrived after union negotiators sought to convince members that trading a shorter deal for the largest-ever payment for annual health funding in the union’s history was a worthwhile deal. “Agreeing to a four-year deal this time around allowed us to get more new funding for the health plan than we actually had before,” said Danielle Sanchez Wetzel, co-chair of the WGA’s negotiating committee. Hollywood Reporter In an interview published earlier this week.
Union members also had to accept changes to their health plan as a result of the deal. Starting in 2027, individual plan users will be required to pay $75 per month for a PPO plan with no previous premium. The earnings limits required to qualify for the plan will increase, as will deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums. However, amid this shift, Contract Deal offers a less expensive plan that can serve as an alternative to Book with a monthly premium of $25.
Some members accepted these amendments with great strides, while others were not convinced. In an email he saw THRleaders of the guild’s Black Writers Committee informed members on April 15 that they would vote “no” on ratifying the contract due to changes to the guild’s health plan. “As it stands, this deal will hurt more writers than it will help,” the three committee co-chairs wrote.
In addition to the health plan changes, the deal raises most minimum payments by 10.5 percent over the course of the deal, increases the remaining base for high-budget domestic and foreign streaming projects and increases the guild’s streaming success bonus. The guild has also made progress in its campaign against employers demanding “free work” from writers by expanding the “second step” payments the guild makes for screenplays and limiting any requests for rewrites or deliveries to the person named in a writer’s contract.
The union’s AI language, first enshrined in 2023 after the WGA’s 148-day strike, remains largely unchanged. The studios agreed as part of the 2026 deal to notify the guild and give them the opportunity to bargain if they license the writers’ work to train a commercial AI system that will produce output.
New Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers President Greg Hessinger negotiated the agreement on behalf of the studios and streamers while WGA West chief negotiator and executive director Ellen Stutzman led the talks for the association with negotiating committee co-chairs John Auguste and Sanchez Wetzel.
The deal “reflects a collaborative approach that supports both writers and the long-term stability of the industry,” AMPTP said in a statement.
