The Writers Guild of America is officially going on strike after talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers broke down despite months of negotiation.
“We have not reached an agreement with the studios and streamers,” the guild said in a statement released on Monday night. “We will be on strike after the contract expires at midnight.”
The WGA’s current agreement with the AMPTP, which represents the nine largest studios in Hollywood, expired on May 1. Discussion regarding a new three-year contract began on March 20.
At the center of the negotiation: An acknowledgment of, and correcting for, the way that streaming has affected the work, compensation and working conditions of writers. “Over the past decade, the companies embraced business practices that slashed our compensation and undermined our working conditions,” the Writers Guild of America West wrote in a recent tweet. “We are asking to restore writer pay & conditions to reflect our value to this industry. The survival of our profession is at stake.”
According to the WGA, more writers work at the current agreement’s minimum pay level now than a decade ago. Between 2013 and 2014, only 33 percent of all TV series writers were paid the minimum. But in the nearly 10 years since, that number has jumped to 50 percent. Lower weekly pay of the writers and producers represented was also cited as being down four percent throughout the last decade. When accounting for inflation, that decline rises to 23 percent.
In anticipation of a possible strike, some shows (including NBC’s Quantum Leap and La Brea) rolled production on the current season right into the next, so as to bank episodes to offset any lull in output.
