Writers union feeling the heat
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The Writers Guild of America is under new and mounting pressure from its ranks to get back to the bargaining table.
A number of union members are unhappy that the negotiations with the major Hollywood studios that broke off Friday night were sidetracked by issues secondary to the one the writers see as central: how they will be paid when their work shows up on the Internet.
Six weeks into a costly strike, they’re pressing union leaders to get the talks back on track -- and fast -- fearful that the Directors Guild of America might open its own contract negotiations with the Hollywood studios as early as next week.
That could undermine the writers’ leverage, because the directors might not make all the demands that the writers have made. The writers don’t want another union to set their agenda.
Among the writers urging fresh talks are some of the guild’s most powerful members, those responsible for the day-to-day operations of popular TV shows, which are quickly running out of original episodes.
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--Richard Verrier and Claudia Eller
