The battle between the east and west wings of the Writers Guild of America has gotten nastier, as such battles tend to do. For background on this, you might want to click here but maybe a quick summary will suffice. The large WGAw and the smaller WGAe are quarreling over the enforcement of some old constitutional provisions. The WGAw thinks it is owed a large sum of money for services it has provided to WGAe and that a number of WGAe members are legally obligated to join WGAw. The WGAe thinks that this is a not-so-subtle attack on their independence and probably part of a larger plan by WGAw to take over the WGAe.
There is a constitutionally mandated mediation process which should be settling this, and the rules say that mediation should be commencing next week. The WGAe has suggested delaying until July. The WGAw is arguing over some conditions before agreeing to that postponement. The WGAe accuses them of adding "last minute terms," although it would seem to be the WGAe's fault that this was all not discussed sooner. The WGAw accuses them of not being serious about mediating at all and of stalling.
For a time, the WGAe looked like the more reasonable of the two but they've begun taking divisive ads out in the industry trade papers accusing the WGAw of being divisive. The latest one, which I think owes John Kerry an author credit and royalties, accuses the WGAw of declaring war on WGAe and says, quote: "It's the WRONG war at the WRONG time, against the WRONG enemy."
Although I'm a member of the WGAw, I'm not necessarily on that side. I guess my main view is that it's a pretty sad state of affairs that two organizations that exist to settle disputes with our employers cannot even begin to settle one between themselves. There may be a good argument for a merger at some point but a strong, united labor organization is not going to quickly result from a hostile takeover.