The current Writers Guild of America contract expires May 2, 2004 (or May 1, depending on how you count) and folks are starting to whisper the "s" word, meaning "strike." As I've mentioned here in the past (see here, here or here), I have been pessimistic about the chances of the WGA obtaining a new deal with significant gains without a strike, and I've also been pessimistic about our ability to sustain a meaningful strike.
Last week, talking to a couple of writers who are closer to the negotiations than I am, I became a little less pessimistic…which is not the same thing as becoming optimistic. This afternoon, I attended an "informational meeting" in which a few Guild officials discussed what's up with the negotiations. There are many issues but the two main ones seem to be Health Insurance and DVDs, not necessarily in that order. Health Insurance is, of course, a major issue in most employment situations across the nation. And the deal under which WGA members share in the proceeds when their work is released on DVD is a rotten deal. Several folks at the meeting recommended the reading of this article about the current DVD market.
Negotiations are underway at this very moment — and I mean this very moment when I'm posting this. With the contract expiration looming large, both sides are meeting sixteen hours a day. Can a strike be averted? Can the WGA make some headway? After today's meeting, I became a little less pessimistic than I was when I went in. But I'm still some distance from "optimistic."