SCULLIBUNDO
Banned
http://deadline.com/2017/02/writers...oach-wga-members-ready-for-strike-1201989113/
The threat of a writers strike continued to mount today as the WGA held the last of 11 membership informational meetings in advance of next months negotiations for a new film and TV contract.
Were always ready for a strike, a TV writer laughed as he left the meeting at the Beverly Hilton. Television is in another Golden Age and the companies are reaping record profits, but writers arent sharing in that. Our incomes are going down, so its going to be a tough negotiation.
Writers deserve more and the companies can afford to pay it, said another TV writer who attended the meeting, and we may just have to fight for it. As for a strike, he said: I pray that there will not be one, but I fear that there will be one.
The general feeling is that everybody would prefer to work, said another writer, but given the companies profits and our declining wages, its now or never. This meeting was not a strike vote, but we have certain needs that have to be met. Nobody wants to strike, but we are willing to if we have to.
We are all standing strong for the union, said another writer.
Another added: We have a unified guild.
Solidarity and the credible threat of a strike are certainly helpful going into any contract negotiation, and many of those interviewed today said they hope the companies recognize that they are united behind the unions legitimate and reasonable demands, and will make a fair deal to avoid a strike.
Guild records show that overall median earnings increased 17.4% between 2008 and 2014, but guild leaders say that the average income of members in both features and series TV have actually decreased over the (last) decade.
Theres no doubt that Hollywoods film writers have seen their wages steadily erode over the past two decades, largely due to a decline in the number of films being released. According to the WGA Wests annual reports, screenwriters earned less in 2015 ($362.1 million) than they did in 1996 ($364.4 million) and thats in real dollars. Adjusted for inflation, they collectively earned about a third less in 2015 than they did in 1996