WGA East Executive Director Lowell Peterson Sets Stage For Showdown With Studios Next Year
deadline.comThe WGA is gearing up for a showdown with the major companies next year. In his annual report, WGA East executive director Lowell Peterson told his members that the WGA East and West “have a lot of work to do at the bargaining table next year … to ensure that our members can sustain meaningful careers as the industry continues its transformation.”The WGA’s current film and TV contract expires May 1, 2023.
Two years ago, when the WGA’s previous contract was set to expire, a strike was all but out of the question because the industry already was shut down by the initial wave of the Covid pandemic.“Although we will not sit across the bargaining table from the producers to negotiate a new MBA (Minimum Basic Agreement) until 2023, we started preparing in earnest last summer,” Peterson said in his report, which was sent to members Friday. “We had an appropriately ambitious bargaining agenda for the 2020 negotiations, but the Covid-19 pandemic shut down production and made a strike threat improbable.
Now, as streaming continues to upend both television and theatrical production and distribution, both the WGAE and the WGAW recognize we have a lot of work to do at the bargaining table next year.Citing just a few examples of what needs to be done to reach a fair deal, he noted that the current contract “has no minimum-compensation terms for comedy/variety shows made for streaming video on demand (SVOD), and the residuals for those shows are puny.
Features writers face continued challenges; TV mini-rooms undermine employment patterns and members’ ability to ‘make their year,’ and the industry has a long way to go to become truly equitable and inclusive.”Peterson added:“We are preparing actively for next year’s negotiations for a
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