Blue Crab Boulevard

Hollywood Writers Call Strike For Monday

There are only about 48 hours left to avert a strike by Hollywood writers after the governing board of the Writers Guild of America called a strike for Monday. Both sides in this dispute stand to sustain permanent damage if the strike occurs. But the guild is going directly for a scorched earth policy - and they admit it.

The strike deadline was issued on Friday, a day after a three-year contract covering the 12,000-member Writers Guild of America expired, and it follows months of talks that deadlocked over the union's demands for a greater share of DVD and Internet revenues.

Both sides have accused the other of stonewalling and refusing to budge from unreasonable proposals.

The union's negotiating panel unanimously urged a walkout during a boisterous membership meeting Thursday night, and the Writers Guild's governing board voted to ratify that recommendation.

No further contract talks were immediately scheduled, but union leaders said at a news conference there was still time to avoid a confrontation that, if prolonged, could cost hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues and wages.

"We have 48 hours, and what we really want to do is negotiate," said John Bowman, chairman of the union's negotiating committee. He said that while reluctant to go on strike, the Writers Guild felt it had to act decisively.

"We have to inflict as much damage as quickly as possible in order to get this thing over," Bowman said.

The last time this happened, both sides lost. It probably won't be any better this time and the effects may be even more devastating. Both sides should be struggling mightily to avoid this. But it really does not look like they will.

Business, Media | Gaius Friday, 2 November , 2007

By feeblemind, Friday, 2 November , 2007 @ 7:08 pm

Hmmm….. I have no sympathy for either side. I haven’t watched any network programming, outside of NASCAR and college football, in years.
By Anthony (Los Angeles), Friday, 2 November , 2007 @ 10:45 pm

I’ve never been knee-jerk in favor of unions or strikes, but I think the WGA has a legitimate beef here: the studios really are trying to screw the writers.
By Gaius, Friday, 2 November , 2007 @ 10:49 pm

I don’t disagree, Anthony - the studios and the producers have been doing so for years. But this is a case of mutual suicide, I suspect. Both sides will lose this one.
By crosspatch, Saturday, 3 November , 2007 @ 12:49 am

I really don’t think anyone is going to notice. Who watches network television anymore?
By FedUp, Saturday, 3 November , 2007 @ 8:58 am

They can stay out forever… I haven’t seen much of anything on TV worth watching! But, that’s not near as bad as Congress going out on strike - it’s not called that, but it’s obvious that they haven’t been working… for US! Lessee… does naming Post Offices and Federal buildings count?
By Uncle Fester, Saturday, 3 November , 2007 @ 11:35 am

One more time…

Feh. Whatever. As long as bloggers don’t go on strike, I’m cool.