Home Entertainment The Writer’s Guild of America votes to authorise strike action

The Writer’s Guild of America votes to authorise strike action

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Strike

Perhaps you remember the Writer’s Guild of America strike of 2007 and 2008. For 100 days, many of the writers behind the shows you love put down their proverbial pens and fought for better wages. The result – at least as far as the entertainment you consume is concerned – is that many shows and films were rushed to production without fully realised scripts – as we saw with the second Transformers, and the second season of Heroes, which ended up being a miserable pile of guff.

It looks like it’ll be happening again. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has once again voted to authorise a strike. A whopping 96% of tallied votes opted to authorise a strike. 6,310 ballots were cast, from a total of 67.5 percent of eligible WGA members. Should the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers not head back for negotiations, writers across America will down tools from May 2, after the current contract expires.

Says the AMPTA:

“The Companies are committed to reaching a deal at the bargaining table that keeps the industry working. The 2007 Writers Strike hurt everyone. Writers lost more than $287 million in compensation that was never recovered, deals were cancelled, and many writers took out strike loans to make ends meet. We remain focused on our objective of reaching a deal with the WGA at the bargaining table when the Guild returns on April 25th.”

There are two primary reasons for the impending strike, according to the WGA.

The first, they say, is that studio profits – especially those from TV – have been increasing steadily, but writer compensation has been inversely proportional, actually dropping significantly. The other relates to WGA pension and health care plans, which seem to be on the verge of collapse.

The strike would likely have far reaching consequences on your favourite shows, which would either ended up being rushed to completion or binned. The last strike saw a rise in unscripted reality TV, and lower viewership. This had a snowball effect on ad sales, which meant less funding for new shows.

There’s a fantastic breakdown of how it could affect the things you watch at Vox.

Last Updated: April 25, 2017

18 Comments

  1. Original Heretic

    April 25, 2017 at 15:32

    Really terrible news. I remember the Heroes Season 2 debacle well. As great as the first season was, it never fully recovered.
    Wonder which shows are going to feel it this time.

    Reply

    • RinceThis

      April 25, 2017 at 15:42

      Iron Fist? BWAHAHAHA! Too soon?

      Reply

      • Original Heretic

        April 25, 2017 at 15:48

        I still have to watch that…

        So behind on the Marvel series, it ain’t even funny.

        Reply

        • RinceThis

          April 25, 2017 at 15:50

          Must say I didn’t enjoy it that much.

          Reply

          • Original Heretic

            April 25, 2017 at 15:52

            That’s what I’ve heard from many people.
            But then again, other have also said they liked it.
            Which means I need to watch it and make up my own mind.

            Plus, Defenders is coming.

          • RinceThis

            April 25, 2017 at 15:57

            I think very little that happens in his story will affect that. It’s all about the Hand anyway

          • Original Heretic

            April 25, 2017 at 15:59

            Yeesh, okay, then I may well give it skip. I don’t wanna watch a key use his special hand for a whole season.
            That which happens between a man and girlfriend, that’s his business.

          • RinceThis

            April 25, 2017 at 16:06

            lol winna!

  2. Kervyn Cloete

    April 25, 2017 at 15:37

    I fully support the WGA. They’re getting shafted out of well-earned wages. But that being said, this is terrible news if it doesn’t get resolved quickly.

    Reply

  3. Kromas Ryder

    April 25, 2017 at 15:38

    I am really sad to hear about this but it is not shocking as we knew this was going to happen for almost two months now.

    That being said the eternal optimist in me is shouting “Witers strike means a new Dr. Horribles Sing a Long blog 2!!!!!”

    Reply

    • Kervyn Cloete

      April 25, 2017 at 15:39

      How long is this blog? Why must they sing it?

      Reply

      • Kromas Ryder

        April 25, 2017 at 15:40

        Lol. Still it is the one good thing that came out of the last writers strike and also one of the top five things Josh Whedon ever made.

        Reply

    • Geoffrey Tim

      April 25, 2017 at 16:10

      That’s exactlt what I said in the company chat earlier. 😀 Maybe we’;ll finally get number 2.

      Reply

  4. RinceThis

    April 25, 2017 at 15:42

    When the industry pulls in 52 billion and the writers on average are making 25% there is something very wrong going on. I support them!

    Reply

  5. RinceThis

    April 25, 2017 at 15:43

    I just hope this doesn’t affect the plot of Iron Fist…

    Reply

    • Alien Emperor Trevor

      April 25, 2017 at 18:39

      On the bright side, they’ll be able to spend more time on fighting.

      Reply

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