The WGA this morning informed its membership that the upcoming membership meetings have been “cancelled as a precaution against COVID-19 (coronavirus),” I have learned. The leadership o…
The leadership of the guild had set up eight membership meetings from Feb. 28 -March 13 “to discuss proposals and priorities for the upcoming Minimum Basic Agreement negotiation” — three for showrunners, three for general members and two for screenwriters. The two remaining ones, the showrunner forum on March 12 and the screenwriter one on March 13, have now been scrapped in response to the outbreak.
“In lieu of face-to-face meetings, the negotiating committee will share information about the upcoming negotiations via email over the next two weeks,” the guild told members Tuesday/ “The WGA and theRelated StoryIn canceling in-person meetings, the WGA follows fellow Hollywood union SAG-AFTRA, which sent a similar advisory to its members yesterday.
The development comes less than two weeks before the WGA is slated to begin contract negotiations with the studios. With the coronavirus epidemic engulfing the country, along with the rest of the world, and its impact in Hollywood growing every day, there has been chatter that the guild could extend its current AMPTP contract, which expires May 1, to avoid a potential strike amid a global health crisis. A rep for the WGA had no comment whether such a possibility is being considered.
The AMPTP recently reached a tentative agreement on a new film and TV contract with the DGA. SAG-AFTRA’s contract expires June 30.
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