TV and film writers authorize strike as contract deadline looms

TV and film writers have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike ahead of their upcoming contract expiration, the Writers Guild of America said Monday.

Nearly 98 percent of the union’s workers voted to authorize the walkout, which is centered around worsening pay and working conditions stemming from the transition to streaming services.

Writers could go on strike as early as May 1, when their contract is set to expire. That would shut down much of the nation’s TV and film production. Writers last went on strike in 2007, a walkout that lasted 100 days.

“Our membership has spoken,” the guild said in a statement. “Writers have expressed our collective strength, solidarity, and the demand for meaningful change in overwhelming numbers.”

Around 79 percent of union members cast a vote.

The Writers Guild of America said it will “continue to work at the negotiating table to achieve a fair contract for all writers.” 

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios and streaming companies, said it would commit to working toward a “fair and reasonable agreement.”

The union says that median weekly writer-producer pay has fallen 4 percent over the last decade, and 23 percent when accounting for inflation.

Writers are also suffering from significantly shorter work periods — streaming shows have fewer episodes than on broadcast — and the introduction of AI in the script-writing process.

“The companies have used the transition to streaming to cut writer pay and separate writing from production, worsening working conditions for series writers at all levels,” the Writers Guild of America wrote in a memo. 

Hollywood production workers threatened to strike in late 2021 before ultimately reaching a last-minute agreement with the studios to bolster their pay and working conditions.