WGA Agreement Ends Strike Threat, but WSWS Delivers Harsh Critique

Writers Guild of America reaches tentative deal with studios via WTHR YouTube Channel

In the deal, it addressed critical health and pension issues and simultaneously tackled growing anxieties by establishing new guardrails. Specifically, the deal set guardrails for the use of writers’ work for training artificial intelligence (AI), on top of boosting streaming residuals to better reflect the current digital landscape. According to The Business Standard, this isn’t your typical MBA; while the contract is normally 3 years, the current proposal is a 4-year deal. In addition to their health plan, the agreement included protections against unpaid free work.

A primary concern for the deal was the long-term sustainability of their health plan. It had seen substantial losses without an uptick in company contributions, a situation that, according to Movieguide, this contract seeks to resolve. The goal is to improve workforce stability and long-term security for members. The AMPTP made a statement about the deal, stating they reached a tentative agreement. Furthermore, they plan to build on the progress as they work toward an agreement that supports long-term industry stability.

The WGA’s current deal, while successfully averting a strike that could have paralyzed the industry, still needs to be ratified by the members. The negotiation team may have unanimously approved it, but the members will be the deciding factor in whether or not the 4-year plan truly provides the long-term stability they seek and whether they believe the studios will follow through on these commitments.

Getting The WSWS Nitty Gritty

While the WGA seems to be pretty optimistic about the future, it seems the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) has a few bones to pick. They say this resolution isn’t about labor peace; they slam it as a “preemptive capitulation.” Their perspective eyes several angles that most mainstream trades haven’t even thought of.

WSWS attacks the infusion into their health plan, which is seeking to even things out after it suffered over $120 million in losses that were a result of the 2023 strike. They say that even at face value, it is nothing more than a band-aid solution on a fragile foundation that is heavily underfunded. This is further weakened by the decline in job prospects and the constantly increasing costs.

A major part that has WSWS’s chomping at the bit is what they’re calling a desynchronization strategy. This being that it breaks the WGA contract from the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), both of which ran on 3-year contracts concurrently. As it stands, the SAG-AFTRA failed to complete negotiations, which started in late Feb. With the WGA moving to 4 years instead of 3, WSWS posits that it will prevent the two unions from striking together as they did in 2023.

The Power Of The People

The stated proposal calls for a 5, 4, 3.5, and 3 percent over 4 years. WSWS feels this is not sustainable as the cost of living continues to rise. Their biggest bone they have with the whole deal is the timing. They left nearly a month on the table, which they see as attempting to prevent or even obstruct strike action.

All of this was done without so much as seeking a strike authorization from membership. Leadership selected to push a top-down process where the details are kept close to the vest until the WGA West Board and the WGA East Council give their approval. Only once they are finalized will members get to vote, with conditions set to squash discussion or opposition. WSWS says that this is a calculated effort to keep everyone in line and keep them from organizing resistance. 

While WGA negotiations may have seemed cheery enough, it seems the WSWS has some choice words regarding all of this, but in the end, it will come down to a final member vote, and the rest will be history.