The Writers Guild of America West has sweetened its offer to the 110-member staff union that has been on strike since mid-February.
But with only a couple of days left before the WGA begins its negotiations with the major studios on a new Minimum Basic Agreement, the two sides have still not resolved their differences. If no deal is reached this weekend, the Writers Guild Staff Union could show up outside the bargaining session on Monday, forcing the WGA Negotiating Committee to cross a picket line in order to bargain on behalf of TV and film writers.
In a memo to guild members on Friday night, Ellen Stutzman, the WGAW executive director, said that the staff union had rejected the latest offer, which amounts to $800,000 in additional wages in the first year.
“It is always a union’s right to decide when to take a deal or how long to strike,” Stutzman said. “Next week, we will turn our full attention to the Guild’s most important function for its membership, negotiating the MBA.”
The WGSU said that Stutzman had not attended the latest bargaining session on Wednesday, and urged her to do so this weekend.
“It is time for you to bring an end to this strike by coming back to the table and bargaining a fair contract this weekend,” the WGSU said on Instagram. “There is still a chance to enter this MBA negotiation cycle as a united front.”
The WGSU organized last year, and has been pressing for a better wage scale and job protections. Most of the represented workers earn less than $84,000 a year, which they argue is less than a living wage in Los Angeles.
The WGA West spends about $9 million a year on salaries for the bargaining unit. In the memo, Stutzman said that the first-year wage increase had been increased to 4%, which will come on top of a 3% raise given last August. Raises of 4% will follow in August 2026 and August 2027, she said.
The WGSU, meanwhile, said that the parties have been making “genuine progress,” but also that the WGAW management had issued an ultimatum requiring the staff “to drop core union issues such as seniority and job protections.”
“We are disheartened that management continues to keep us on strike through its bad-faith tactics,” the WGSU wrote.
According to Stutzman, the WGSU has not backed off several demands, including the right to strike during the term of the agreement and a contract term that aligns with the MBA bargaining cycle. Such a term would increase the staff union’s leverage in every bargaining cycle, as it could threaten to strike during talks with the studios.
The staff union is also seeking reinstatement of three employees who the WGAW says were fired for cause. The WGSU alleges that they were fired unlawfully for union activity.
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