Writers’ Strike Report Suggests Studios Willing to Delay Negotiations to Make Union Members Desperate

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Studios (AMPTP) has no intention of restarting negotiations with the striking Writers Guild of America (WGA) for several more months with the intention of forcing the WGA’s hand through desperation, a new report suggests. According to the Deadline report, their sources indicate that the studios’ strategy is to “grind down the guild” in order to put striking writers in a position where their financial resources are running low before they will even consider returning to the table to talk sometime this fall.

“The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses,” the report cites an executive as telling Deadline. Another insider called the strategy “a cruel but necessary evil.” One executive told the outlet that strategy was agreed to “for months, even before the WGA went out” while another said that the studios are determined to “break the WGA”.

Per the report, the studios feel that this strategy would put them in a better position and allow them to dictate the terms of any new deal with the WGA. The WGA went on strike in early May after their previous contract expired at the end of April. The union’s strike enters its 72nd day on Wednesday. There have been no discussions between the AMPTP and the WGA since the strike began despite numerous public offers from the WGA for both sides to meet.

The report about the AMPTP’s strategy comes just hours ahead of a potential strike by the actor’s union, SAG-AFTRA. The contract between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP is set to expire at midnight PST on July 12th and the actors union has already voted to authorize a strike if no new deal is made. It was also reported on Tuesday that SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP have both agreed to call in federal mediators to break the deadlock in those negotiations ahead of the deadline, though in a statement, SAG-AFTRA said they “are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining toward an agreement.”

“We will not be distracted from negotiating in good faith to secure a fair and just deal by the expiration of our agreement. We are committed to the negotiating process and will explore and exhaust every possible opportunity to make a deal, however we are not confident that the employers have any intention of bargaining toward an agreement,” the statement reads.

The statement continued, “SAG-AFTRA represents performers. We are here to get a deal that ensures our members can earn a living wage in our expansive industry we help make possible with our work. The AMPTP can make this happen at any time. They know what our members need and when they bring that to the table, we will be listening, but it’s important to know – time is running out.”