WRITERS GUILD MEMBERS OVERWHELMINGLY RATIFY NEW CONTRACT
WGAE Contact: WGAW Contact:Sherry Goldman Neal Sacharow Ph 718.224.4133 Ph 323.782.4574FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASENew York and Los Angeles – The members of the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW) have ratified a new three-year deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The WGA membership overwhelmingly voted in favor of ratifying the contract by 90.7 percent of 1,952 valid votes cast in New York and Los Angeles. The term of the agreement is from May 2, 2011 through May 1, 2014.“We are very pleased that our joint membership has voted so strongly to ratify our 2011 Minimum Basic Agreement. We’d also like to express special thanks to our staffs and the negotiating committee for their diligence and expertise. Valuable advances have been made in our pension plan and in other areas important to writers. Nonetheless, we also recognize that much remains to be done. To that end, we have positioned ourselves for some hard and important work in the years ahead as we endeavor to further the needs and rights of our members,” said WGAE President Michael Winship and WGAW President John Wells.Gains made in the contract include significant increases in contributions to the Writers Guild pension plan, increased reuse payments in Pay TV, and increased minimums. The Writers Guild of America, East and the Writers Guild of America, West are labor unions representing writers in motion pictures, broadcast, cable, news and digital media. The WGAE and WGAW are active in legislative activities on the state, federal, and international levels with a special focus on globalization, labor, communications, and copyrights. They also conduct a number of programs, seminars, and events on issues of interest to, and on behalf of writers. For more information about the Writers Guild of America, East, visit www.wgaeast.org. For more information about the Writers Guild of America, West, visit: www.wga.org.-30-
