WGA Responds To ATA “Threat”: “The Agencies Ignored Everything We Presented”

The WGA has responded to the Association of Talent Agents’ latest statement that the writers are not taking the negotiations seriously and are threatening to “throw our industry into chaos.” The guild says it stands ready to continue talks with the ATA but insisted, “We won’t be intimidated by another threat from the agencies.”

“The agencies ignored everything we presented,” the guild said after today’s round of negotiations, “including our offer on independent film packaging, and instead issued an ultimatum – essentially the same ultimatum that they first stated on February 26th – namely that, as a precondition to any further negotiation, we must first compromise on their demand to continue with conflicted practices. That we cannot and will not do.

“Right now, seven weeks into these discussions, the agencies will not even agree to give the guild information that would help writers get paid on time. They have stood on their principle of ‘choice,’ which is, in reality, a demand to negotiate writer-by-writer, rather than acknowledging the guild as the representative of all writers and their proper negotiating partner.

“We hope to make a deal before expiration, but we won’t be intimidated by another threat from the agencies. Their ‘your guild won’t negotiate’ stance is a calculated negotiating ploy, but it will not substitute for serious conversation about the damage inflicted on writers by conflicted practices. We stand ready to talk.”

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