The WGA East and Hearst Magazines Media have reached a tentative agreement for a first-time contract covering some 500 of the publishing giant’s writers, producers, and editors at 28 brands, including Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country, Good Housekeeping, Popular Mechanics, Car & Driver, Oprah Daily, Seventeen, Elle, Redbook and Woman’s Day.
The deal, which averts a threatened strike, comes after more than two years of on-again, off-again bargaining and “is a shining example of the WGAE’s commitment to bettering the lives of those working in the media and entertainment industry,” the guild said. “This landmark contract was hardfought since Day 1, and is testament to what can be achieved through the power of solidarity.”
Only Thursday the guild said that there was “growing supermajority support” among members employed by the company for an unfair labor practices strike “if a fair contract cannot be reached with management when the two parties head back to the bargaining table on Friday.”
The guild had filed four unfair labor practices charges with the National Labor Relations Board against Hearst since the negotiations began, and last month hundreds of the guild’s members employed by the company staged a half-day walkout and rally to demand a fair contract.
Terms of the agreement have not yet been made public, but the guild has said that it was seeking “fair wage increases, better severance and strong anti-harassment protections,” among other demands.
The WGA East and West are currently involved in the final stages of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for a new film and scripted TV contract, and guild members have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike if they don’t get a fair deal. A strike, if it comes to that, could take place as soon as Monday night at midnight PT, when the current contract expires.
“Guild members understand the immense value they bring to companies – whether it’s Hearst or Discovery Warner Bros – and that they deserve and will fight for fair compensation and workplace protections,” the WGA East said in a statement. “Right now, we are negotiating a transformative contract for guild members who write film and television. In addition, in the last few months, the WGAE has secured contracts in the film/TV/streaming sector at nonfiction television companies Jigsaw and Sharp, and organized podcast workers at Crooked Media. Further, we are negotiating contracts at MSNBC and CBS News Streaming in the broadcast/cable/streaming News sector.
