Staff at the Writers Guild of America West went on strike Tuesday, accusing union leadership of violating labor laws.
The strike will affect about 100 of the union’s 150 employees. Workers represented by the Pacific Northwest Employees Union voted last month to authorize a strike after negotiations broke down.
“The Writers Guild of America Staff Union (WGSU) has called for an unfair labor practice strike in protest of the ULP by Writers Guild of America West management,” the union said in a statement. “Guild management is monitoring workers for union activity, firing union supporters, engaging in malicious superficial negotiations, and has no intention of reaching agreement on most of WGSU’s core issues.”
The move comes a month before the WGA, in consultation with the Motion Picture and Television Producers Alliance, is scheduled to begin negotiating new contracts for Hollywood television and film screenwriters. Union leaders said they expected negotiations to proceed as normal despite the strike.
Members of the staff union began picketing outside the WGA West Headquarters on Tuesday afternoon holding signs that read “Give AMPTP” and “WGA Lives on Labor Values.” Scabby the Rat, the large inflatable mascot familiar from picket lines, was parked at Third Street and Fairfax Avenue.
“There is no engagement from them to us, no real engagement,” said Missy Brown, co-chair of the WGSU bargaining committee. She said that in the last negotiation session, “it was clear there was no further movement from management.”
In a statement posted on the guild’s website, the WGA said it will continue to negotiate in good faith with staff. The union also said that “the impact on AMPTP negotiations in particular will be minimal, as executive staff and managers who play key roles working directly with the WGA bargaining committee will not participate in the strike.”
However, WGA West Headquarters will be closed to the general public and members for the time being. Screenings at the Writers Guild Theater have also been canceled.
The guild was scheduled to hold two meetings on Wednesday and Saturday to brief authors on their negotiating priorities for the AMPTP negotiations. Those meetings have been cancelled.
The WGA is also scheduled to hold its annual awards ceremony on March 8th, but there has been no word on whether that event will be affected.
WGA West denies allegations of malicious negotiations, but said in a statement that it respects its staff’s right to strike.
“In the course of 19 negotiations since September, the Guild has made comprehensive proposals to the employee union that include numerous union protections and improvements to compensation and working conditions,” WGA West said. “PNWSU’s unfair labor practice allegations are without merit. The WGAW Board of Directors, WGA Bargaining Committee, and executive staff continue to prepare for the upcoming MBA negotiations, and the administrative staff will assume core functions of the Guild. We look forward to resolving the initial contract with the staff union.”
The core functions of a guild include collecting dues and disbursing balances.
“I think they think they just leave everything to middle management,” Brown said. “But at some point, you have to pay dues and balance checks that have to be processed. It’s a lot of work. I don’t know how you do it all.”
Employees said they did not know how long the strike would last, but said they were prepared to continue for some time.
“We are here together taking this leap of faith,” said Andrew Arosh, the guild’s coordinator of inclusion and equity. “I think people will feel much more at ease knowing they’re going into uncharted waters with their friends and with good friends.”
WGA staff also picketed outside a membership meeting at the Sheraton Universal Hotel last week. Member countries are calling for “just cause”, protection of seniority and improved wage standards. The union says 64% of its members earn less than $84,850 a year.
The union was organized last spring, and negotiations for the first contract began last September. Dylan Holmes, co-chair of the WGSU Negotiations Committee, told Variety that staff did not expect negotiations to last long enough to affect the AMPTP negotiating frame.
“I never imagined we would be so far apart that it felt like we were speaking different languages,” Holmes said.
The WGA published a side-by-side table outlining the positions on both sides. WGSU publishes its own chart. The employees’ union also protested the dismissal of the three employees and filed an unfair labor practice complaint with the National Labor Relations Board in August last year.
WGA East employees, based in New York and represented by another union, issued a statement of support for their colleagues.
“The WGAE United Steelworkers Employees Union stands in solidarity with our fellow unions in the Writers Guild of America West Employees Union who are striking over unfair labor practices,” a spokesperson said. “All workers, including union employees, are entitled to fair wages, cause, and respect in the workplace. We call on WGAW management to come to the table and negotiate in good faith.”
