Negotiators for the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have asked the roughly 11,500 members to give them the power to call a strike after May 1 if contract talks break down. Voting closes on Monday and the tally is expected to be released shortly after.
The strike authorization vote is meant to turn up the heat on companies such as Netflix Inc and Walt Disney Co and convince them to raise the pay for writers, who say their compensation has suffered because of the streaming revolution, which resulted in shorter TV seasons and smaller residual payments.
“We feel like we’ve been undervalued for years,” said John August, a screenwriter who sits on the Guild negotiating committee.
A prolonged strike could be costly.
The last WGA strike, in 2007 and 2008, lasted 100 days. TV networks broadcast re-runs and more reality shows, while the cost to the California economy was estimated at $2.1 billion, according to the Milken Institute. Most TV and film writers…
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