John Oliver, Seth Meyers, Lilly Wachowski, Amber Ruffin, David Simon and More Than 1,250 WGA Members Sign Petition to Support PBS Writers

NEW YORK and LOS ANGELES (October 31, 2024) – More than 1,250 members of the Writers Guild of America East and Writers Guild of America West signed a petition to support Guild members at PBS stations WGBH, THIRTEEN and PBS SoCal who are negotiating a new collective bargaining agreement seeking equitable union protections for animation writers, fair compensation for writer-producers, WGA coverage of made-for-new-media programs and reasonable residual payments for reuse on streaming services.

The petition was delivered by PBS writers to management at yesterday’s negotiations. 

Among the WGA members who signed the petition are Leo Allen, Joel Kim Booster, Robert Carlock, Anya Epstein, Tom Fontana, Scott Frank, Sal Gentile, Mary Harron, Soo Hugh, Marta Kauffman,  Richard LaGravenese, David Mandel, Julie Martin, Glen Mazzara, Seth Meyers, Stanley Nelson Jr., John Oliver, Michael Rauch, Seth Reiss, Amber Ruffin, Tom Schulman, David Simon, Alec Sokolow, Barry Strugatz, Jim Taylor, Chris Terrio, Anna Thomas, Lilly Wachowski, Geoffrey C. Ward, Beau Willimon and Steve Young. 

The petition reads:

We are writing to express our solidarity with PBS writers and pledge our support for their fight for a fair and equitable contract.

PBS writers create award-winning, educational, and engaging content that is essential to PBS’s mission to inform the American public. Unfortunately, the vital role these writers play in maintaining the high standards of public television is not being reflected in management’s approach to ongoing negotiations.

WGA members have waited since July for WGBH, THIRTEEN, and PBS SoCal to agree to meet — but the PBS employers didn’t come to the table with their proposals or respond to ours until the end of September, for a contract that was supposed to expire on October 9. 

Management has yet to meaningfully engage with the Guild’s most important proposals, including full union protections for animation writers; fair compensation for writer-producers; WGA coverage of made-for-new-media programs; and reasonable residual payments for reuse on streaming services.

We stand united in support of all of the WGA’s proposals. We urge you to take these negotiations seriously and come to a fair deal.

Read the full petition with signees here.

“For writers, PBS has always been a cherished friend and teacher,” said WGAE President Lisa Takeuchi Cullen. “Its programs taught us to love words and develop values like trust, kindness and empathy. So we expect PBS to use the remaining time before the contract deadline to live up to those values. We believe the demands the WGA has presented will allow PBS to succeed in a time when public television is needed more than ever, while ensuring fair treatment for all its writers. Now is not the time for PBS to test the mettle and solidarity of WGA members. We demand a fair contract, now.”

ABOUT THE WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA
The Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) are labor unions representing writers in motion pictures, television, cable, digital media, and broadcast news. The Guilds negotiate and administer contracts that protect the creative and economic rights of their members; conduct programs, seminars, and events on issues of interest to writers; and present writers’ views to various bodies of government. For more information on the Writers Guild of America East, visit www.wgaeast.org. For more information on the Writers Guild of America West, visit www.wga.org.

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