WGA votes to end writers strike after reaching a significant deal

The WGA (Writers Guild of America) has officially voted to end the Hollywood writers' strike after 148 days on the picket lines, the second-longest strike in WGA history.

The WGA represents over 11,500 film and TV writers, and the strike has caused many Hollywood productions and beyond to pause production.

The WGA announced the writers' strike would soon be coming to an end earlier this week, but the official agreement was announced via social media today, September 27 via the Writers Guild of America West. "Today, our negotiating committee, WGAW Board and WGAE council all voted unanimously to recommend the agreement. The strike ends at 12:01 AM."

The WGA reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP. Today, our Negotiating Committee, WGAW Board, and WGAE Council all voted unanimously to recommend the agreement. The strike ends at 12:01 am. Check out our deal at https://t.co/c0ULMXhPL7. #WGAStrong pic.twitter.com/7z8kw9xI1p

— Writers Guild of America West (@WGAWest) September 27, 2023

A seven-page document was shared with the 11,500 members of the WGA detailing the conditions of the agreement. The agreement will be in effect from September 25, 2023, until May 1, 2026, and includes several important protections for writers that had not previously been in place.

Firstly, writers will be getting raises: a 12.5% increase in pay over three years, plus a significant increase in the money writers get from residuals and views on various streaming services. Alongside this, there's now a minimum number of writers required to be attached to a project based on its length.

One of the biggest stipulations sought by the WGA was protection against the use of AI. As agreed in the deal, AI now cannot be used to write/rewrite any literary material and AI-generated material cannot be considered source material.

Now that the strike is over, writers are expected to show up for work as of Wednesday, September 27th. That means late-night shows such as Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert can resume production.

However, due to the simultaneous Screen Actors Guild of America (SAG-AFTRA) strike, actors under contract will not be allowed to return to their respective projects yet. That means that projects that have been halted due to the strike, including shows The Last of Us and Stranger Things, cannot fully continue just yet.

Writers have taken to social media to share their reactions to the deal, and most are celebrating the protections the WGA was able to secure.

The companies were proposing DAY RATES for c/v writers. Because we struck, that day rate turned into a 13 WEEK MINIMUM. https://t.co/YQtqePzHxw

— Andra (on-druh) Whipple (@whipsical) September 27, 2023

Congratulations to @WGAWest and @WGAEast for reaching a tentative deal! This is another example of workers using their collective bargaining power to achieve better pay, benefits, and working conditions. When workers fight, workers win!

— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) September 25, 2023

So many people worked so hard and sacrificed so much. Thank you writers, strike captains, and people on the lines for keeping the good fight alive for the future of our industry. #WGAStrike

— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) September 25, 2023