The WGA is on Strike

[Cam]

The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since May 2, here’s what you need to know about it:

Who are the WGA?

The Writers Guild of America is the combined labor union for writers in film, television, radio, and online media in the East (WGAE) and West (WGAW) of the United States
They, as any other labor union, stand for the well-being and working conditions of these writers

Why are they on Strike?

There isn’t one single thing they’re fighting for, as seen on these images, posted by Neil Gaiman in his tumblr account (i super recommend following him, he’s been vocal about the strike and a good source of insider information, plus following him gets some real fun stuff on my dash):

images

Some of the reasons they’re fighting for are:

• Better pay for writers, including compensations and residuals
  • Ensure writers are getting the pay they deserve when it comes to streaming services
• Keeping writers in work for longer (Mr. Gaiman’s words)
• Preserving the writers’ room (“mini-rooms” and kicking writers out after a short time period is a practice that’s picking up speed)
• Rejecting the usage of AI

What to expect?

Based on the earlier strikes we can expect:

• More unscripted shows
• Big companies changing the writers of their shows to non-union writers
• Shows getting shortened, cancelled, delayed, interrupted, or postponed

The strike may go on for a while, past strikes have gone from 2 weeks to 4 months

i know this may be upsetting to some, but strikes are meant to be disruptive for a reason. Plus, keep in mind that it’s a small disruption in exchange of treating the writers with the respect they deserve as workers

How to support them:

The WGA has a page on how to support them on their site, however, i’ll be summarising the ways one can support them as an individual here for convenience:

• Support them on social media and spread the word
• Join a picket line
• Donate

Read more about the topic

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To generate some (much needed) talk about the strike here, i’ve got some questions for y’all:

• Were you aware of this strike going on?
• What do you think about their proposals?
• Are you worried about anything in particular regarding this strike?

[Ouijaloveletters]

I knew. I say go for it٫ honestly. They deserve it.

[liyahsdiamond]

They’re doing a great thing!

[Cam]

@Ouijaloveletters

They deserve it.

They really do!
Gaiman has been talking a lot about it and brought up residuals and
he somehow got -0.01 USD in residuals at some point?
which is wild not only because how ridiculous that is, but because Gaiman is a big name in the industry, so you can only imagine how the smaller writers are being treated

@liyahsdiamond

They’re doing a great thing!

They really are
and i’m seriously rooting for them

[Ouijaloveletters]

Neil٫ noooooo!

[Jass]

Not the biggest fan of strikes here, but this is one I can get behind and they do have my support. It’s a tough world, the TV world. Pressure is really high for those writers. They deserve better treatment!

[Caticorn]

I feel the same

I usually don’t have much sympathy for strikes but this one is one that I feel I can actually support, especially as someone who wants to work in film one day.

[katabasis]

Why aren’t you the biggest fan of strikes if you don’t mind me asking and what makes this one different?

[Jass]

Most simply are not that effective in reaching their goals, but they can bother a lot of people. This one seems it might be effective, without really bothering a lot of people who have nothing to do with it.

[Cam]

so
it’s been over two months since the strike began

• the WGA is still on strike, picketing every day
• no agreements have been reached
• studios seem to have dropped the pretense of wanting to have a conversation, saying they aim “to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses” instead
• the SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) is now on strike as well
  • This is the first time in 60 years when both the WGA and the SAG-AFTRA are on strike at the same time

[lollipoplady]

I first heard about the Writer’s Strike because of this:

[Cam]

understandable
and honestly? good for him to support the strike in this way, there’s been many similar events (and even an impromptu Imagine Dragons street concert)
it’s so good to see that big names are supporting the strike
and it’s good that people are hearing about this, however they learn about it

[benitz786]

I’m glad they went on strike honestly. They deserve to have security in their job and MAKE ACTUAL MONEY. Like… living wage worthy money.