WGA Leader Reiterates Union’s Concerns in Special Labor Day Message
By Movieguide® Contributor
Chris Keyser, co-chair of the WGA negotiation committee, shared a Labor Day message with his union, encouraging them to keep fighting.
“We all know the list by heart by now. The erosion of pay. The abuse of screenwriters. The failure to protect Appendix A writers in the move to streaming. The dismantling of the writing process in episodic television. The threat of AI. The refusal to provide streaming residuals that grow with viewership. Each of these things is an existential issue for some or all of us,” Keyser said, outlining the key issues of the strike.
He then explained the importance of addressing each issue, noting that the union will not rest until all its members are protected.
“Which is why we have said to the companies: writers have and will negotiate the solutions to these problems, but we’re not going to pick and choose amongst them,” he said. “We’re not going to leave any sector of the Guild behind.”
“These things must be resolved,” Keyser continued. “And not with contract language that has a one-to-one ratio of promises to loopholes. Truly resolved.”
“Of course, that’s not the AMPTP way. And it’s a hard thing to give up on something that has served them so well for 40 years. They are in the process of wrestling amongst themselves, ramping up their public relations, and coming to terms with the fact that – with writers on strike – and actors on strike behind them – this negotiation is different,” he noted.
“They are going to have to do more – offer more – than they usually do. Much of our frustration with how long this is taking stems from that – from their internal bargaining. But they will get there,” he added.
Keyser’s message emphasized that the union only has this type of bargaining power because of the overwhelming support they have received from their members and their unity with SAG-AFTRA.
The writers have been on strike since the beginning of May and were joined by the actors in mid-July.
Last month, the AFTRA met with the WGA for the first time since the strikes began, making them an offer that showed progress on some of the issues but left others untouched. The two sides have yet to return to negotiations since.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Negotiations between the WGA and the AMPTP have stalled again as the publication of the August 11 deal caused major strife.
On August 22, the AMPTP released their proposal to the WGA on August 11 to show the public that they had made concessions on major issues. The move, however, helped the WGA, whose members quickly dissected the offer, publicizing loopholes and major issues that had yet to be addressed.
While the AMPTP has received a largely negative response since making the offer public, WGA leadership appears encouraged by the progress shown in that offer.
