New,York,Ny,Usa-january,16,,2008,Members,Of,The,Writers Television Writers Strike Official: Writers Guild of America New York NY USA-January 16, 2008 Members of the Writers Guild of America East picket outside ABC headquarters (photo credit: Shutterstock) Strike, Picket, WGA

Television Writers on Strike: Writers Guild of America Strike is Official

Ashley Bissette Sumerel News

It’s official. For the first time in 15 years, television writers across the nation are going on strike. 

Despite months of negotiation between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios and streamers, no agreement was able to be made before the deadline of May 1st. That’s when the WGA’s current agreement with the AMPTP expired. 

“We have not reached an agreement with the studios and streamers,” WGA said in a statement. “We will be on strike after the contract expires at midnight.”

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LOS ANGELES, May 3rd, 2019: Daytime exterior close up of the WGA Writers Guild of America building at the corner of Fairfax and Third Street, against a blue sky with white clouds. (Photo credit: Shutterstock)

The Writers Guild of America West tweeted that The Board of Directors “voted unanimously to call a strike, effective 12:01 AM, Tuesday, May 2. 

WGA said the decision was made after it “spent the last six weeks negotiating with Netflix, Amazon, Apple, Disney, Discovery-Warner, NBC Universal, Paramount and Sony under the umbrella of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).”

In that same statement, the WGA went on to state that they “explained how the companies’ business practices have slashed our compensation and residuals and undermined our working conditions.”

“Our chief negotiator, as well as writers on the committee, made clear to the studios’ labor representatives that we are determined to achieve a new contract with fair pay that reflects the value of our contribution to company success and includes protections to ensure that writing survives as a sustainable profession. We advocated on behalf of members across all sectors: features, episodic television, and comedy-variety and other non-prime-time programs, by giving them facts, concrete examples, and reasonable solutions,” the statement continued.

“Though our Negotiating Committee began this process intent on making a fair deal, the studios’ responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing.”

Picketing will begin this afternoon.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, said in a statement that the negotiations “concluded without an agreement.” 

AMPTP added that it is “willing to engage in discussions with the WGA” and that its companies “remain united in their desire to reach a deal that is mutually beneficial to writers and the health and longevity of the industry, and to avoid hardship to the thousands of employees who depend upon the industry for their livelihoods.”

Read the full announcement about the strike from WGA here.

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Ashley Bissette Sumerel is a television and film critic living in Wilmington, North Carolina. She is editor-in-chief of Tell-Tale TV as well as Eulalie Magazine. Ashley has also written for outlets such as Rolling Stone, Paste Magazine, and Insider. Ashley has been a member of the Critics Choice Association since 2017 and is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic. In addition to her work as an editor and critic, Ashley teaches Entertainment Journalism, Composition, and Literature at the University of North Carolina Wilmington.