The Writers Guild said today that the AMPTP’s latest counteroffer for a new contract “is neither nothing, nor nearly enough.”
05.08.2023 - 05:11 / deadline.com
Meeting for the first time in more than three months, the Writers Guild and the AMPTP on Friday failed to reach an agreement to resume contract negotiations. Their inability to agree on terms for returning to the bargaining table comes after their much anticipated meeting to discuss a possible resumption of talks.
“As of now, there is no agreement on these items, because the AMPTP said they needed to consult with their member studios before moving forward,” the union said in a statement late Friday.
Here is the full statement from the WGA Negotiating Committee:
DEAR MEMBERS,
Ellen Stutzman and Tony Segall met with Carol Lombardini and AMPTP staff this afternoon for what Carol stated was a confidential sidebar to discuss resuming negotiations for a new MBA. Topics included – at the AMPTP’s insistence – press blackouts. Also discussed was a potential negotiation protocol and a preview of the issues each side intends to bring back to the table upon resumption.
As of now, there is no agreement on these items, because the AMPTP said they needed to consult with their member studios before moving forward. Our intention after the confidential meeting was to send a simple email to you all letting you know we would get back to you when there was more specific information about resuming negotiations. However, before the negotiating committee even had a chance to meet, our communications department began hearing from the trades asking for comments on studio-leaked rumors of the contents of the confidential meeting. This is after the AMPTP spent much of the meeting emphasizing the need for a press blackout. Since the studios are leaking to the press we need to let you know what was said in the meeting. First, Carol informed us
The Writers Guild said today that the AMPTP’s latest counteroffer for a new contract “is neither nothing, nor nearly enough.”
Just hours after the studios and streamers made public their latest “comprehensive package” towards a deal with the WGA, the guild has responded – and its seems the AMPTP and top CEOs may have strategically overplayed their hand.
WGA leaders met face-to-face with key CEOs on Tuesday evening as executives sought to pitch the guild on their most recent contract offer in the hopes of ending the nearly four-month-old strike. Late Tuesday, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers released details of the contract offer presented to the WGA on Aug. 11.
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The Writers Guild and the AMPTP didn’t come back to the bargaining table Monday. The two sides last met on Friday, after which the guild told its members that talks would resume sometime this week. The strike is now in its 112th day.
Talks continued but no sign of a Friday afternoon breakthrough.
EXCLUSIVE: Sources are telling Deadline that the Writers Guild and AMPTP are resuming talks this afternoon. We’re told it’s not in person, rather a zoom. We understand that the WGA will be delivering their counter to AMPTP’s counterproposal from Friday.
Labor Day traditionally signals the end of summer and puts the TV industry into fall mode, focusing on the launch of the new broadcast season. While broadcast is no longer the only — or even the main — game in town, Labor Day has remained that threshold after summer vacations when the TV business kicks into high gear.
Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America met Friday with the major studios for the first negotiating session since May, and received a new package of proposals. The WGA told members in an email that it would respond to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers next week.
After their first day of bargaining since the Writers Guild went on strike May 2, the AMPTP and the WGA have recessed their negotiations until next week after the companies made a counterproposal to guild’s proposals.
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The WGA and the AMPTP have agreed to resume bargaining for a deal that could end the guild’s ongoing strike.
Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Writers Guild of America will resume negotiations with the studios on Friday, the guild told members in an email. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is set to deliver a response to the guild’s proposals, the union said.
Editors note: One in a series of stories marking the 100th day of the WGA strike.
Trustees of the DGA Pension & Health Plans have approved a free major medical plan for participants who lose coverage because of the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes.
The Writers Guild introduced new demands on Friday that could prolong the three-month strike even longer.
WGA chief negotiator Ellen Stutzman and WGA West general counsel Tony Segall ran about an hour on Friday afternoon at the Sherman Oaks headquarters of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Sources said the WGA duo made clear that the guild will not bend on proposals to establish minimum staffing levels in episodic TV and a guaranteed minimum number of weeks of employment. The AMPTP has called those proposals non-starters, and gave no indication on Friday that they’re prepared to change that position.
Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer In her most forceful comments to date about the Hollywood strikes, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass called Friday on the unions and studios to reach a deal “immediately” to get the industry back to work. Bass, who has largely remained on the sidelines thus far, said she is willing to get personally involved to help bring the strikes to an end.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass weighed in again on the writers and actors strikes that have shut down much of production in the region, telling the sides that she stands “ready to personally engage” to reach a resolution.
If you thought the Writers Guild of America was going to be playing nice heading into tomorrow’s meeting between WGA Chief Negotiator Ellen Stutzman and AMPTP boss Carol Lombardini – you really might want to think again.