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WGA East Boss Advises Members to Take Deal

Feb 9, 2008  •  Post A Comment

Michael Winship, the president of the Writers Guild of America East, is recommending that his membership accept the tentative agreement reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers end the WGA strike that began Nov. 5.
“I believe it is a good deal,” Mr. Winship said Saturday afternoon before going behind closed doors for an informational meeting at which the WGA East members would discuss the proposed settlement. No vote will be taken on the terms at the meeting.
“It’s not a done deal until the membership ratifies it,” the WGA East president said. “The general sense of it is that we are pretty much done.”
The larger WGA West was scheduled to have a similar informational meeting Saturday night in our Los Angeles.
Once the tentative deal is “signed sealed and delivered” from the AMPTP and has been signed by the WGA negotiating committee, it will be voted on by the WGA East and West councils and boards Sunday.
If they vote to ratify the deal, the AMPTP proposal will be put up for a vote by the full membership for a vote. How that final vote will be held, by mail or at a meeting, had not been decided at the time of Mr. Winship’s short press conference at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
Mr. Winship, who had returned late Friday night from talks on the West Coast, said if the membership approves of the deal, it is possible, though not certain, that WGA members could be ready to return to work as early as next week.
“It’s not a done deal until the membership ratifies it,” Mr. Winship said. “The general sense of it is that we are pretty much done.”
It was unclear how big the WGA East turnout was Saturday afternoon, because members of the press were ordered to leave the floor on which the meeting was held.
Meanwhile, summaries of the terms of the new three-year deal are posted on both chapters’ Web sites.
Mr. Winship’s press conference on the sidewalk on Broadway attracted a gaggle of onlookers.
“Let’s get it going,” said one man, before going on with his sightseeing.
(Editor: Baumann)

4 Comments

  1. Have the members of the WGA and SAG considered that if streaming and downloading of TV shows over the internet became the overwhelming method reruns are viewed by the public, the networks might not find it necessary to air a second run on television? And, therefore, elimination of TV reruns would cause the traditional and substantial residual payment to be replaced with a relatively meager internet residual payment.
    Michael J. Wallach
    Los Angeles
    Manager, Attorney, Author of “How To Get Arrested”
    http://www.HowToGetArrested.com

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