After four consecutive days of bargaining, the Writers Guild of America announced Friday that it will meet again next week with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
“Last Friday, 102 days after they walked away from the bargaining table and put us out on strike, the AMPTP offered responses to our proposals in all work areas,” the guild said in a communique with members. “We met this week and continued to exchange proposals. We will continue to meet next week.
“Thank you for the many messages of support and solidarity as we talk with the AMPTP. As always, be skeptical of rumors from third parties, knowing that the Guild will communicate when we think there is something of significance to report.”
Earlier that day, the WGA West issued a “Call to Action” to its members, saying that media consolidations is “one of the root causes of the strike”, and urging members to file public comments with the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice in support of proposed revisions to their Merger Guidelines – a policy document designed to guide law enforcement around consolidation.
The “Call to Action” came the day after the guild released a report calling for more government regulation of what it calls the “anti-competitive practices” of Disney, Amazon, and Netflix, which it accuses of “abusing their dominance to further disadvantage competitors, raise prices for consumers, and push down wages for the creative workforce.”
The WGA updated their members on the 109th day of the 2023 writers’ strike, now nine days longer than the union’s last strike in 2007-08, a work stoppage that cost the California economy an estimated $2.1 billion.
The strike, alongside a strike that SAG-AFTRA called in July, has brought scripted U.S. production under union contracts to a screeching halt, delayed the release dates of some titles, and halted star promotion of upcoming projects.