U.K. Writers Guild on Tentative Deal to End Strike: “Your Solidarity Has Counted and Your Voice Has Been Heard”

When the Writers Guild of America and representatives of Hollywood studios and streamers reached a tentative agreement on a new contract late Sunday, international reactions began pouring in on Monday.

One of the groups involved in the development was the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB). “We congratulate our sister union in the United States on reaching a tentative agreement with the AMPTP,” WGGB President Lisa Holdsworth said in a statement. “Over the past 146 days we have seen an extraordinary show of solidarity from writers and their trade union brethren on both sides of the Atlantic, and indeed around the world. We have been overwhelmed by the response from our own members as they joined their striking colleagues abroad – you followed the WGA’s strike rules to the letter, went to the WGGB protest in London in the summer and have received a tsunami of support sent on social media. media. Some of you have even joined picket lines in the United States. Your solidarity has counted and your voices have been heard – both by the Writers Guild of America and their members, but also by the streamers, studios and producers who have witnessed this global display of collective action and – finally – listened.”

She said the WGGB looks forward to the details of the preliminary deal and “its implications for British writers”, stressing: “All writers working for streaming platforms should enjoy decent terms and the best way to achieve this is through union agreements. – our work here will continue.”

Holdsworth made another serious comment, pointing out the ongoing actors’ strike. “We are also aware of the acute impact the strike is having on the UK creative industries, on our own members and also on members of our sister associations, so we look forward to a swift resolution to both this strike and that of SAG-AFTRA , to whom we continue to send our solidarity,” she said.

After several long consecutive days of negotiations, the Writers Guild of America and a group representing studios and streamers reached a tentative agreement on a new contract on Sunday, a major development that could mark the end of a historic 146-day writers’ strike.

The Writers Guild of America emailed strike captains the news Sunday evening, followed by the bargaining committee informing all members. “We have reached a preliminary agreement on a new MBA for 2023, i.e. an agreement in principle on all deal points, subject to the drafting of the final contract language,” the message to members said. “We are very proud to say that this deal is exceptional – with meaningful benefits and protections for writers in every sector of its members.”

In June, WGGB and others joined writers and other media and entertainment workers around the world for “Screenwriters Everywhere,” a global day of solidarity with notable Hollywood writers. The purpose of the protest, organized by the WGGB in central London, was to “support the 11,500 members of Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East,” who have been on strike since May 2. Succession creator Jesse Armstrong, British writer Russell T Davies (Doctor who, Strange as folk), as well as TV and film writer Jack Thorne (Are dark materials, The Eddie, Enola Holmes).