Posts tagged Writers Guild of America West
The Writers Guild West’s Struggle With Its Staff Union Gets Even Uglier
May 1, 2026 // Union president Michele Mulroney, executive director Ellen Stutzman, vice president Travis Donnelly and secretary-treasurer Peter Murrieta detailed the “final offer” they gave to the staff union ahead of negotiations that night. The same email went into detail on how WGSU strikers have “acted in an aggressive manner completely out of line with how writers have always operated during WGA strikes.” The leaders alleged that WGSU members had called writers “scabs” as they sought to enter the building where they were negotiating their 2026 film and TV deal and followed writers leaving the building or waited for them at parking lots, “at times shouting epithets and abuse.”
SAG-AFTRA Communications Staffers Attempting to Unionize
March 30, 2026 // The announcement comes as SAG-AFTRA takes a break from negotiations with Hollywood’s top studios and streamers over its next three-year film and television deal, with talks set to resume later this spring. Given that so many staffers in the union touch some part of these negotiations, that timing could improve the leverage of the workers, who are seeking voluntary recognition from their employer rather than an election at the National Labor Relations Board.
WAG axes LA awards show over AI labor dispute
March 2, 2026 // While the Los Angeles ceremony is canceled, the guild’s New York event is still expected to proceed the same day. An alternative celebration for West Coast nominees will be scheduled later.
Weeks before studio negotiations, the Writers Guild of America’s staff union goes on strike
February 18, 2026 // Last month, the union first authorized a strike, with 82% of its members in favor. The staff union, made up of over 100 workers across legal, communications, residuals and other departments, was formed last spring and contract negotiations began in September. The bargaining has focused on concerns about the growth and use of artificial intelligence, pay raises and “basic protections” like grievance procedures.
Theorist Media Creatives Announce Joint Union Drive With The Motion Picture Editors Guild & The Writers Guild Of America West
December 30, 2025 // The organizing effort includes Workers performing a wide range of work - from editing and writing to sound design to thumbnail creation and digital production. Workers first reached out to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), while the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) joined the campaign to coordinate organizing efforts for Writers. The Motion Picture Editors Guild - IATSE Local 700, is leading the effort for the IATSE-represented classifications.
Writer Earnings Fell $600 Million Due to Strike and Industry Contraction, WGA Says
July 30, 2024 // TV and film writer earnings fell $603 million last year, or about 32%, as the end of “Peak TV” coincided with a 148-day strike by the Writers of Guild of America. Writer earnings, reported for dues purposes, dropped to $1.29 billion in 2023. Adjusted for inflation, that is the lowest level since the writers strike in 2007-08.
Sesame Workshop Writers Authorize Potential Strike
April 18, 2024 // In the negotiations for a new contract, which began on Feb. 13, the union is seeking to institute “industry standard” annual raises and fixed residuals for re-use on streaming platforms, as well as a performance-based bonus when their work does well on streaming platforms. They are also looking to expand their contract to cover writing for animation and social media work, which would add members to the existing bargaining unit. They are further working on regulating the use of AI within the contract and establishing a paid parental leave fund. “No one wants to see a picket line on Sesame Street,” WGA East president Lisa Takeuchi Cullen said in a statement. “Millions of parents and families around the world are going to have a lot of questions. They might ask why the bosses at Sesame Workshop are ignoring their company’s own messages of kindness and fairness.”
Drew Barrymore’s Talk Show Is Returning — Without Her Striking Writers
September 12, 2023 // She added that she was approaching the new season, which premieres Sept. 18, “with an astute humility” — despite the optics of resuming her show during two strikes, which have called attention to inequitable working conditions in film and television.
LA Strikes Embody Widespread Anxiety Over Worker Pay, Rise of AI
July 31, 2023 // The city has almost accidentally become a microcosm for worker unrest. Actors and writers—on strike simultaneously for the first time since 1960—have paralyzed Hollywood. Cleaners and cooks are sporadically picketing outside hotels, including the Beverly Hilton, the longtime venue of the Golden Globe Awards. Thousands of UPS drivers could strike next week if the Teamsters rank and file don’t quickly approve a tentative agreement announced Tuesday, following in the footsteps of port workers who walked off the job last month. Los Angeles Unified School District teachers also went on strike this year, winning a 30% pay increase after more than 400,000 students were out of class for three days. And in May, performers at a North Hollywood bar formed the first strippers’ union in the US in nearly three decades. Companies say they’re being unfairly blamed for the rising cost of living while they try to find common ground with unions—a dominant source of worker angst that has also resulted in California having the highest rate of homelessness in the nation.