WGA Talks Stall as Strike Looms

Posted on October 6, 2007

The talks between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers (AMPTP) are not going well. The talks stalled out Friday afternoon, after which each side issued inflammatory statements placing blame on the other side.

A report from The Hollywood Reporter says AMPTP president Nick Counter accused the the WGA of stonewalling.

"We have had six across-the-table sessions and have been met with only silence and stonewalling from the WGA leadership," AMPTP president Nick Counter said. "We have attempted to engage on major issues, but no dialogue has been forthcoming from the WGA leadership."

Negotiators for the WGA said in a statement to THR: "While the WGA remains determined to make a fair deal, at this stage of the negotiations the AMPTP is still stuck on its rollback proposals including profit-based residuals. Our members will not stand for that. The entertainment industry is successful and growing like never before. Writers, whose creativity is at the heart of that success and growth, are committed to sharing in it."

The AMPTP insists the WGA is determined to strike. The organization is conducting a strike-authorization vote.

The WGA is currently conducting a strike-authorization vote, with balloting to extend until Oct. 18. If a majority of its 12,000 members give leadership the request authority, guild brass could to call a strike whenever strategically most advantageous.
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The WGA noted they expect to return to the bargaining table Tuesday. But Counter said it's unclear what can be accomplished at this point.
"The WGA leadership refuses to engage in any sort of discussion, much less bargaining, on either our proposals or theirs," the AMPTP president said. "We have presented empirical data to support our positions. Our presentations are met with no questions, interchange or any attempt to come to an agreement."

Essentially the AMPTP accuses the WGA of refusing to negotiate any points whatsoever. The WGA says that the industry won't accept that the Internet and new media has fundamentally changed the business and that major changes must happen in the way payments are calculated. It's hard to say yet whether the strike will happen -- it's still too early to tell.