Update: After this article published, the WGA leadership voted to end the writers’ strike after 148 days. The contract still has to be voted on by the roughly 11,000 members of the WGA, but in the interim writers are allowed to return to work.
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has come to a tentative agreement with major studios and streamers, possibly ending a historic strike that began on May 2.
The tentative agreement comes at the end of four days of negotiations. In a message to members posted online, the WGA called the deal “exceptional.”
“What we have won in this contract – most particularly, everything we have gained since May 2 – is due to the willingness of this membership to exercise its power, to demonstrate its solidarity, to walk side-by-side, to endure the pain and uncertainty of the past 146 days,” reads the message. “It is the leverage generated by your strike, in concert with the extraordinary support of our union siblings, that finally brought the companies back to the table to make a deal.”
According to Variety, the strike itself will still be in effect until the guild’s contract approval and ratification process. However, picketing has been suspended, and guild leaders are expected to vote on Tuesday on whether to lift the strike. Details of the three-year contract will not be released until language is finalized.
The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) joined the WGA on the picket line on July 14. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which is the body that has been negotiating on behalf of studios and streamers, has not met with SAG-AFTRA since the strike began.
In a statement, the SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical/Streaming Negotiating Committee congratulated the WGA Negotiating Committee on its tentative agreement
“We look forward to reviewing the terms of the WGA and AMPTP’s tentative agreement,” reads the statement. “And we remain ready to resume our own negotiations with the AMPTP as soon as they are prepared to engage on our proposals in a meaningful way. Until then, we continue to stand strong and unified.”