Hollywood writers have overwhelmingly given their approval to a hard-won new contract with studios, marking the official conclusion of one of the longest strikes in the industry’s history. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) announced on Monday that “99 percent of WGA members have voted in favor of ratifying” the contract, granting them the opportunity to return to work under improved terms.
The union’s approval was widely anticipated, with its 11,500-plus members supporting the deal. After 148 days on strike, WGA negotiators struck an agreement with major players such as Netflix and Disney last month, securing better compensation, increased protections from artificial intelligence, minimum staffing requirements, and more.
Most writers had already returned to work almost two weeks ago, anticipating the ratification of the deal. However, full-scale film and television productions in Hollywood have yet to resume due to the ongoing strike by the much larger Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), representing 160,000 performers.
Negotiations between the studios and SAG-AFTRA, which began its strike in July, finally commenced last week and were scheduled to continue on Monday. SAG-AFTRA’s demands, including those related to compensation and restrictions on the future use of AI, go beyond the writers’ demands.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, representing the industry’s major studios in negotiations with WGA, lauded the outcome of the writers’ vote. In a statement, it said, “The AMPTP member companies congratulate the WGA on the ratification of its new contract, which represents meaningful gains and protections for writers. It is important progress for our industry that writers are back to work.”
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