
Swap Agrawal is a student at Harvard Law School.
In this weekend’s news and commentary, the WGA resumes talks with the AMPTP, and California Labor Federation leader Lorena Gonzalez calls on California legislators to extend unemployment insurance to striking workers.
On Friday, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) said that it was considering a new proposal that the union received from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), marking the resumption of negotiations between the two entities since talks stalled on May 1. “Your Negotiating Committee received a counterproposal from the AMPTP today,” the WGA wrote in a memo to its members on Friday afternoon. “We will evaluate their offer and, after deliberation, go back to them with the WGA’s response next week.” The WGA had previously stated that the AMPTP had to provide a counterproposal that addressed all of the union’s key concerns as well as issues arising from the strike in order for talks to continue. Meanwhile, the AMPTP has insisted that any new WGA deal must match the one reached with the Directors Guild in June. As Michelle reported last week, the union’s major points of disagreement include minimum employment levels for writers’ rooms, writers’ entitlements to streaming residuals, overall writers’ pay, and the use of AI. The Guild’s memo did not disclose any details on the latest offer from AMPTP, but it urged its members to continue showing up to the picket lines. “Sometimes more progress can be made in negotiations when they are conducted without a blow-by-blow description of the moves on each side and a subsequent public dissection of the meaning of the moves,” the statement continued. “That will be our approach, at least for the time being, until there is something of significance to report, or unless management uses the media or industry surrogates to try to influence the narrative.” Since the AMPTP traditionally negotiates with one union at a time, it’s unlikely that talks with SAG-AFTRA will resume while this new round of negotiations with the WGA take place.
On Saturday, Lorena Gonzalez, Executive Secretary-Treasurer and Chief Officer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, told Deadline that it was “shameful” that striking SAG-AFTRA and WGA workers in California are ineligible for unemployment insurance in their state. Meanwhile, their counterparts in New York and New Jersey are eligible to receive $504 a week and $830 a week respectively for up to 26 weeks while on strike. Workers in California are regarded as having left their job “voluntarily” – even if they voted against strike authorization. “Up and down the state, we don’t want a group of workers – especially the massive number of workers we have out on strike right now – to be economically insecure because they’re being forced to go out on strike,” Gonzalez told Deadline. “It’s a big gap that our legislators need to look at as a way that they can support striking workers, because the employers have already paid into this. And let’s be clear, these workers have earned unemployment insurance. If you lose your job, you’re supposed to be able to access unemployment insurance. This shouldn’t be something different.”
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April 1
In today’s news and commentary, Aramark workers at Philly stadiums reach tentative agreement, Crystal Carey is poised to take general counsel at NLRB, President Trump’s nominees for key DOL positions, and the National Treasury Employees Union sues the Trump administration. UNITE HERE Local 274, which represents thousands of food service workers in the Philadelphia region, […]
March 31
Trump signs executive order; Appeals court rules on NLRB firing; Farmworker activist detained by ICE.
March 28
In today’s news and commentary, Wyoming bans non-compete agreements, rideshare drivers demonstrate to recoup stolen wages, and Hollywood trade group names a new president. Starting July 1, employers will no longer be able to force Wyoming employees to sign non-compete agreements. A bill banning the practice passed the Wyoming legislature this past session, with legislators […]
March 27
Florida legislature proposes deregulation of child labor laws, Trump administration cuts international programs that target child labor and human trafficking, and California Federal judge reversed course and ruled that unions representing federal employees can sue the Trump administration over mass firings.
March 25
Illinois warehouse quota bill vetoed; Minnesota residents organize; circuit split on NLRB deference continues
March 23
Mahmoud Khalil and labor; CA Fast Food Council's slow start; debating worker-to-worker organizing