WGA Staff Go on Strike Weeks Ahead of AMPTP Negotiations

The staff of the Writers Guild of America West went on strike on Tuesday, accusing leadership of the union of breaking labor laws.

The strike will affect about 100 of the 150 staffers at the union. The workers, represented by the Pacific Northwest Staff Union, voted to authorize a strike last month after talks broke down.

“The Writers Guild Staff Union (WGSU) has called an unfair labor practice strike in protest of ULPs committed by Writers Guild of America West management,” the union said in a statement. “Guild management has surveilled workers for union activity, terminated union supporters, and engaged in bad faith surface bargaining, showing no intention to come to an agreement on most of WGSU’s core issues.”

The move comes one month before the WGA is due to sit down with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to begin bargaining a new contract for Hollywood TV and film writers. The union leadership has said that it expects bargaining to go on as normal despite the strike.

Members of the staff union began picketing outside WGA West headquarters on Tuesday afternoon, carrying signs like “It’s Giving AMPTP” and “WGA Live Your Labor Values.” Scabby the Rat, a large inflatable mascot that is a familiar sight on picket lines, was parked at 3rd Street and Fairfax Avenue.

“There’s just been no engagement — no real engagement — from them to us,” said Missy Brown, a co-chair of the WGSU bargaining committee. She said that at the last negotiating session, “It was just very apparent there was no more movement from management.”

In a statement on the guild’s website, the WGA said that it will continue to bargain in good faith with the staff. The union also stated that AMPTP negotiations “in particular will be minimally impacted since the executive staff and managers who play key roles working directly with the WGA Negotiating Committee will not be on strike.”

WGA West headquarters will be closed to the public and to members for the time being, however. Screenings at the Writers Guild Theater will also be suspended.

The guild had planned to hold two meetings Wednesday and Saturday to brief writers on negotiating priorities for the AMPTP talks. Those meetings have been canceled.

The WGA is also due to hold its annual awards on March 8 — there was no word on whether that event would be affected.

The WGA West has denied the allegations of bad faith bargaining, but said in a statement that it respects the staff’s right to strike.

“During the course of 19 negotiating sessions since September, the Guild has offered the staff union comprehensive proposals with numerous union protections and improvements to compensation and working conditions,” the WGA West said. “PNWSU’s allegations of unfair labor practices are without merit. The WGAW Board, WGA Negotiating Committee and executive staff will continue to prepare for the upcoming MBA negotiations, and management staff will carry on the core functions of the Guild. We look forward to a resolution of a first contract with the staff union.”

Among the core functions of the guild are collecting dues and paying out residuals.

“I think they think they’re just going to rely on the middle managers to run the whole thing,” Brown said. “But at a certain point, there are dues that have to be processed, residual checks that have to go out. It’s a lot of work. I don’t know how you do all of it.”

Staffers said they did not know how long the strike may last, but said they were prepared for it to go on for a while.

“We are out here taking this leap of faith together,” said Andrew Aroche, a coordinator in the guild’s inclusion and equity department. “I think it gives people a lot more comfort knowing that they’re going into these unknown waters with company, and with good company.”

The WGA staff also picketed outside a member meeting at the Sheraton Universal Hotel last week. The members are pushing for “just cause” and seniority protections, as well as an improved wage scale. The staff union has said that 64% of the members make less than $84,850 a year.

The union organized last spring, and negotiations on its first contract began last September. Dylan Holmes, co-chair of the WGSU bargaining committee, told Variety that staffers did not expect that bargaining would drag on so long as to affect the AMPTP bargaining window.

“We would have never guessed that we would be so far apart that it felt like we were speaking different languages,” Holmes said.

The WGA has published a side-by-side chart outlining the two sides’ positions; the WGSU has published its own chart. The staff union has also protested the termination of three employees, and filed an unfair labor practices charge with the National Labor Relations Board last August.

The employees of WGA East, who are based in New York and represented by a different union, issued a statement of support for their colleagues.

“The WGAE United Steelworkers Staff Union stands in solidarity with our union siblings at the Writers Guild of America West staff union as they strike over unfair labor practices,” a spokesperson said. “Every worker deserves fair pay, just cause, and respect at work — including union staff. We urge WGAW management to come to the table and bargain in good faith.”