WGA, studios resume negotiations, more talks Thursday
Striking writers and Hollywood studios returned to the bargaining table Wednesday in hopes of making progress toward ending the work stoppage that began in early May, and the sides will keep talking Thursday.
Protestors gather outside the Netflix studios Wednesday morning, ready to spend another day on the picket lines to show solidarity while negotiations are underway.
The Writers Guild of America has been on strike for 140 days, without much progress with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Writers are hoping that the agreement to return to the table means that the AMPTP realizes that the cost of the strike is too great and that it needs to come to an end.
The writers also say that even though this has gone on longer than anyone wanted, they have to hold their ground and can't afford to take just any deal to get back to work.
'We came out here cause we understood what the stakes are. It's an existential fight for our livelihood, for the future of writers and actors as they came out here in this industry, and for all workers in this industry," said Ariana Jackson, WGA member.
Earlier in the week, the AMPTP said they are eager to reach a fair deal and end the strike.
The WGA sent out a notice to their members that their focus is to get a fair deal for writers as soon as possible. "We'll reach out again when there is something of significance to report," wrote the WGA.
The two sides are not believed to have met at the bargaining table since mid-August.
"Every member company of the AMPTP wants a fair deal for writers and actors and an end to the strikes, which are affecting not only our writer and actor colleagues, but also thousands of others across the industry. That is why the AMPTP has repeatedly put forward offers that address major priorities of the WGA, including a last round of offers on Aug. 17th and 18th."
Writers, who went on strike on May 2, were joined on the picket line in July by the SAG-AFTRA actors' union.
There have been no known contract talks between the studios and SAG-AFTRA since that strike began.
