Writers Guild of America’s strike authorization vote, explained

In November 2007, nearly 12,000 TV and movie writers from the Writers Guild of America struck. Production was halted. The American labor union, which represents entertainment writers, handles negotiations between those writers and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers — the trade group representing TV and movie producers, like Disney, Netflix, and Paramount — every three years. Most years the WGA or AMPTP come to an agreement after a period of standard negotiations and contract negotiation. WGA members went on strike six times in the past: 1960, 1973. 1981. 1985. 1988 and most recently in 2007. The WGA might have to strike again on May 1, and although the 2007 strike happened 16 years ago, it’s the best example we have as to how this potential strike could go.

The 2007 strike was centered on several issues to be addressed in the contract agreement — issues around streaming media compensation and DVD residuals, among other things. The strike had huge impact on the economy. Studios that had stopped production were forced to fire workers as a result of the strike. This was in addition to writers who withheld their labor for better work conditions and higher compensation. No one wants a strike — it’s not easy on anyone, to put it mildly — but it’s the last resort, as well as a show of solidarity between writers, when an agreeable contract isn’t on the table.

In early April of this year, the WGA made its first step toward its seventh writers strike when it announced it would hold a strike authorization vote — a move that lets union members vote on whether they’re willing to strike. This vote only authorizes a strike as a possibility; if the unionized writers believe they’re being offered a fair contract, they won’t have to resort to a strike. The WGA contract with production studios and streaming companies runs out on May 1, which is when the strike would begin if a contract hasn’t been agreed upon and signed by then. This time, WGA’s writers are looking for a higher pay floor, pay standardization and residuals for entertainment released on streaming or in theaters, and to “address the abuses of mini-rooms,” which are basically small writers rooms that offer less stability, among other demands.

How does that affect the creators of your favorite movies and TV shows? We’ll explain.

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Who are members of the Writers Guild of America

The WGA’s membership consists of writers spanning across the TV and movie industry. Since the 1930s, American labor unions have been representing its members in negotiations with studios. Hollywood labor unions operate differently to other industry unions like those for video games. Television and movie union writers can be assigned to multiple production studios or work on different projects. Video game unions are usually limited to one studio. There are different unions for different sectors of movie and TV production — directors, camera operators and other crew, actors, writers, and others have their own unions that negotiate with the AMPTP.

Also, the Writers Guild One tonne. Union writers are responsible for most of the movies and shows you love. Last Week Tonight: John Oliver, You can have everything at once, Star Trek: Picard, The Walking Dead, Detective Pikachu, Abbott Elementary, Saul deserves better, and plenty, plenty more — too many to name, really.

[Ed. note: Polygon is represented by the Writers Guild of America, East, but has its own contract entirely separate from movie and TV writers.]

What’s a strike authorization vote?

WGA leadership requested that its members vote for a strike authorization vote on April 3. Basically, the union wants to know if its writers are willing to strike if a contract isn’t negotiated by the time the old one lapses. The authorization vote will be held from April 11 to April 17. Should the writers vote in favor, they’ll go on strike on May 1 if a new agreement isn’t reached.

Negotiations have been ongoing with the AMPTP since March 20, and WGA representatives told the Los Angeles Times that the AMPTP hasn’t brought good enough offers to the table just yet. Strikes are a means to demonstrate solidarity among writers and a demonstration of strength for the union. The threat of strike provides leverage for the negotiations. This tells Hollywood studios that these workers would be willing to stop working if needed.

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What time will it occur? It would last how long?

However, it is possible for a strike to not take place. The ideal scenario is that the AMPTP will bring an offer to the table that satisfies the WGA’s demands, and a strike won’t be necessary. However, should that fail and writers vote no, then a strike will take place on May 1. There’s no set end date for a strike — it ends when an agreement that’s suitable to both parties has been reached.

WGA strikes in 2007 were over 100 days long. After 153 days, the 1988 strike ended. The 2016 videogame actor strike between the Screen Actors Guild of Television and Radio Arts and eleven American developers and publishers lasted almost a year and ended after 340 days.

Although the impact of a strike can be devastating for those striking as well as other employees in production, this makes it an effective tool. It’s a sacrifice that workers are willing to make to ensure a better and more equitable future. Deadline reported that, as of March 27, WGA West currently has $20 million in strike funds to assist its writers in the event of a stoppage of work or lapsed benefits.

Which cause are they fighting?

WGA members approved its demands in March. This union divided the demands into three main categories, including compensation and residuals as well as pension and health plan, professional standards, protection and employment of writers.

Specifically regarding pay and compensation, the union calls out the devaluation of writing across TV, movies, and other media; it’s asking for an increase in minimum pay to address that. It’s also asking for pay and residuals to be standardized between streaming and theatrical releases and to ensure TV writers are paid throughout production, too. A WGA report from mid-March suggested that writers have been disadvantaged as production companies “[leverage] the streaming transition to underpay writers, creating more precarious, lower-paid models for writers’ work.” After adjusting for inflation, the WGA estimates that “median weekly writer-producer pay” has declined by 23%.

“The companies have used the transition to streaming to cut writer pay and separate writing from production, worsening working conditions for series writers at all levels,” the WGA wrote. “On TV staffs, more writers are working at minimum regardless of experience, often for fewer weeks, or in mini-rooms, while showrunners are left without a writing staff to complete the season. And while series budgets have soared over the past decade, median writer-producer pay has fallen.”

The other big issue is “mini rooms,” which Variety described as a scaled-down writers room. A traditional writers room is roughly eight writers, Variety’s report explained, while a mini room enlists two or three writers to help a showrunner write a few scripts at lower rates, regardless of their experience level. Using this type of small-scale writers room keeps costs down while the platform decides if it wants to greenlight a show, or — in the event that a full season has aired — to determine if the show should be renewed. Mini rooms are becoming increasingly popular, which has led to lower pay due to the smaller scale rates. It’s particularly bad for newer writers, Variety said.

The full list of WGA’s pattern of demands is available on the WGA website.

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This is what it means for movies and shows.

The 2007 strike was 100 days long and we can see the effects of this strike. The impact wasn’t immediately seen in shows and movies that had finished production; those went on as planned. After the strike, all scripted programs were shut down and workers were fired. Some programs ended up having shorter seasons like 30 Rock, Gossip Girl, Supernatural,Scrubs, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Breaking BadThere were many more. Others were delayed, while reruns played in their place until after the strike, though still within the same season — Hannah Montana, 24, Battlestar GalacticaThis category included several shows. Some episodes were delayed while production was stopped. They were then aired the next season. Other shows were simply cancelled, even though several episodes had already been written and shot.

Films also were affected. Some producers rushed to finish scripts in time for the strike. Ryan Reynolds spoke well of the effects of the strike. Wolverine: X-Men OriginsFilming continued despite the inability of the writers to finish the script.

“We were in the middle of production, there were no writers, no anything,” Reynolds said. “Every line I have in the movie I just wrote myself because in the script we had, it said, ‘Wade Wilson shows up, talks really fast.’ I was like, ‘What?! What am I supposed to do with that?’” (The movie was critically panned upon release, and Reynolds has made reference to its disastrous plot in his own solo Deadpool movies.)

2009. Star Trek movie also shot through the 2007 strike, which meant its script couldn’t be changed without violating terms. Although the script was written before strike, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, writers, said that they could have been present on set as they were executive producers. But they couldn’t change anything, except “make funny eyes and faces at the actors whenever they had a problem with the line and sort of nod when they had something better.”

If a strike were to happen in May, it could look similar; the LA Times reported earlier this year that studios have already started prepping scripts and even renewed series earlier than expected, but there’s only so much writing that can be banked ahead of time. All genres of scripted content will be affected if the productions are stopped immediately. Although movies have a longer timeline, they will still be affected. Reality TV was able to see an increase in ratings after the strike. Some shows were given longer seasons. It’s possible that will happen this time around, too, should the strike go forward.

In 2007, writers entered into other creative spaces when they weren’t writing for shows. The internet — and internet-based content — has only grown since then, and plenty of writers already have made inroads in that space, which would potentially ease their transition as individuals. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 epidemic provided some guidance on what to do when productions close down. Some creators feel more at home online than they did in 2007.

Getty Images Photo by Jonathan Alcorn/Bloomberg

What has changed in public support?

Despite having support from the general public in the strike of 2007, writers have seen their support grow exponentially. As workers across all industries fight for their rightful place at the bargaining tables, unions have made national headlines over these past years. We’re seeing progress in industries that unions had barely touched (or hadn’t touched at all!) The videogame, tech and retail service sectors were all previously affected by unions. It’s a nationwide trend, with union elections up by 53% in 2022. Overall, though, union membership has been in decline for decades, which one expert suggests may be due to the “enormous barrier” of U.S. labor laws that keeps people from unionizing workplaces.

Still, it’s clear that the environment in which the strike would operate has changed. There may be less talk of TV and film fans being “inconvenienced by the strike” and more support for the writers and other impacted workers involved.