WGA West on Tuesday accused staff of violence and intimidation on the picket line and said there would be no further negotiations as the staff strike reached its 71st day.
Guild leaders said in a memo to members that picketers called writers “scabs” who crossed the line in studio contract negotiations, beat up guild staff with picket signs and even came to the home of guild executive director Ellen Stutzman.
“Staff union strikers have been targeting Ellen, showing up in groups at her home several days in a row and returning up to five times a day,” the leadership wrote. “Most of these acts are not protected by federal labor law, some are illegal, and the attempted threat of the Guild’s executive director in his home is completely unacceptable.”
The Writers Guild Staff Union, which represents about 110 employees, went on strike on February 17, demanding greater employee discipline, better pay and protection of seniority. Since then, attempts to resolve the strike have been fruitless.
WGA West said Tuesday that the two sides had reached an impasse and that the latest proposal, made on April 8, was final. Union leaders said they would meet with WGSU this evening to explain the terms and “further discuss why the remaining staff union proposals are not viable.”
The WGSU sent a message to the WGA West last Thursday suggesting it could meet over the weekend to resume negotiations. Alternatively, the employee union proposed bringing in a mediator from the California Bureau of Mediation and Conciliation.
“We continue to believe that if both sides come to negotiations prepared for settlement, the outstanding issues should be resolved within a reasonable timeframe,” said Brandon Tippey, president of the Pacific Northwest Employees Union, of which WGSU is a member.
WGA Western leaders argued in the memo that the remaining proposals from the staff were not realistic. Leaders said employees are demanding that only seniority be considered in firing and promotion decisions, allowing more senior employees to “displace” recent hires, even across departments.
“The Guild’s goal should be to place the best employee in a given position, regardless of length of employment,” Guild leaders wrote.
Employee unions have also been demanding that wages be increased based on seniority. WGA West said its staff rejected a proposal modeled after WGA East’s contract.
“The Guild’s proposal includes minimum increases in each classification over the life of the contract, annual raises for all staff, and additional raises based on years of service,” the leaders wrote. “The Guild spends approximately $9 million a year on salaries for its bargaining unit staff, and the first-year raise we are offering equates to $800,000 in additional pay.”
WGA West leaders Michelle Mulroney, Travis Donnelly, Peter Marietta and Stutzman also accused staffers of sabotaging recent negotiations between the guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. For the first two weeks, the employee union picketed outside the SAG-AFTRA building where negotiations were held, blocking entrances to the parking lot and forcing negotiating parties to cross picket lines to get inside.
The leadership claimed that the staffers “acted in an aggressive manner during the WGA strike that was completely different from the way scriptwriters have always behaved.”
The memo also alleges that PNWSU officials tried to shove the WGA’s outside attorney and prevent him from entering the building.
Meanwhile, leaders reported that the guild’s offices, theaters, and libraries remain closed, but the guild’s core businesses, such as paying balances and arbitrating credit disputes, continue.
“If our staff is ready, we will get a fair contract,” the leaders wrote.
