The national union for writers eked out a deal at the last minute, averting a potentially disastrous situation for the daytime industry.
On The Horizon
For weeks, fears of a strike by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have loomed over Hollywood, including the daytime industry, which employs dozens of writers between the four extant soap operas.
But Tuesday talks between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) opened up again after reaching a weeks-long impasse.
“The Writers Guilds of America, West and East and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have concluded negotiations and have reached a tentative agreement on terms for a new three-year collective bargaining agreement,” the groups said in a joint statement, according to Vanity Fair.
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Talks between the WGA and the AMPTP had stalled when they reached the point of negotiations over “higher pay for TV writers in the fluctuating era of Peak TV and higher contributions to the union health fund.” Peak TV is an industry and TV lovers’ term for the current era of quality and abundant television programming available to viewers.
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Had the strike moved forward, the entire TV industry would have been deeply affected–perhaps no part more so than its soap opera arm. As soap fans know, daytime sudsers need to come up with compelling written material five days a week. Who would have done that if all the daytime members who are WGA members had gone on strike?
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The WGA did go on strike in 2007, and it was a tough few months for the TV community. Well, the contract the two groups ironed out this morning lasts for the next three years, so for now, we’re good.
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