On Monday, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) voted to authorize a strike, with 97.9 percent of its members voting in favor of the resolution. The strike will occur if a new agreement cannot be reached with the studios by May 1st.
As reported by Breitbart, the writers are advocating for a new deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), as the current contract expires on the first of May.
“Writers are ready for a deal from the studios that allows writers to share in the success of the content they create and build a stable life,” the WGA tweeted.
Ashley Nicole Black, a writer for shows such as “Ted Lasso” and “Black Lady Sketch Show,” highlighted one problem in the fact that nowadays, networks focus more on selling their shows to streaming services rather than actual television syndication packages, which results in less royalties for writers.
“Even if it’s a huge hit, they get to determine the value and then they send you a check for $1.25,” said Black.
Another issue with streaming was pointed out by Mike Drucker, a writer for such shows as “Full Frontal” and “Tonight Show,” is that streaming services favor shorter seasons of just 10 episodes or less; this results in writing staff not having a full year of work, as well as shows hiring fewer writers overall.
“It’s not that writers want ‘more’ so much as the landscape has changed that writers are currently taking home less for a variety of reasons,” Drucker explained on Twitter. “For example, some jobs that used to last dozens of weeks now last only a handful with the same pay per week.”
The last time the WGA went on strike was in 2007. Monday’s strike vote saw a total of 9,218 members cast their votes, which the guild said was a new record for member turnout.