WGA & AMPTP Reach “Tentative Agreement” Averting Strike

A U.S. writers’ strike has been averted, as the Writers Guilds of America (WGA) West and East and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) have come to tentative terms on a new deal.

A statement from WGA West said that the groups have “concluded negotiations and have reached a tentative agreement on terms for a new three-year collective bargaining agreement.”

The current contract was set to expire at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday. Last month, the WGA voted 96.3 percent in favor of a strike if demands were not met by the deadline.

According to a memo from the WGA to colleagues, the new deal sees “gains in minimums across the board, as well as contribution increases to our Health Plan that should ensure its solvency for years to come. And we further expanded our protections in Options and Exclusivity.

“We also made unprecedented gains on the issue of short seasons in television, winning a definition (which has never before existed in our MBA) of 2.4 weeks of work for each episodic fee. Any work beyond that span will now require additional payment for hundreds of writer-producers.

“We won a 15-percent increase in pay-TV residuals, roughly $15 million in increases in High-Budget SVOD residuals, and, for the first time ever, residuals for comedy-variety writers in pay TV.

“And, also for the first time ever, job protection on Parental Leave.”

The WGA added: “Did we get everything we wanted? No. Everything we deserve? Certainly not. But because we had the near-unanimous backing of you and your fellow writers, we were able to achieve a deal that will net this Guild’s members $130 million more, over the life of the contract, than the pattern we were expected to accept.”