The Writers Guild of America (WGA) voted in favor of a new contract, reducing the likelihood of an industry-wide strike. According to the Associated Press, a landslide 92 percent of the record 4,128 votes was cast in support of the May 4 agreement. The new contract sets aside $41 million for pay increases for WGA members over the next three years. Important gains were made for writers in foreign residuals, the made-for-basic-cable market, the pay-per-view market and the video-on-demand market. The writers also succeeded in getting the Fox network up to scale; the network will pay full fees to writers instead of a discounted rate reserved for new companies.
Negotiations began on January 22 but broke off six weeks later. They resumed on April 17 and continued until an agreement was finally reached. Though the agreement does not discount a possible strike by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), whose contact expires June 30, it does point in a more positive direction.
