(10-1-2007)
To Our Fellow Members,
We are writing today to alert you to an important piece of mail which you will receive this week.
Following unanimous votes taken by the MBA Negotiating Committee, the WGA West Board, and the WGA East Council over the last two weeks, we are seeking authorization to call a strike at the most advantageous moment once our contract expires. We will be seeking that authorization through a membership vote of both our unions. The ballots went into the mail this morning.
We wanted you to hear this news from us before you read about it in the trades or heard it through the rumor mill. It is important that you carefully read the letter which accompanies the ballot. It describes our strategic reasoning for calling for this vote.
We have scheduled several member-only meetings in New York and Los Angeles over the next few weeks at which your questions will be answered and your concerns addressed. Meeting details are included with the ballot.
We've posted the letter on www.wga.org and www.wgaeast.org websites for your immediate viewing. In addition to the letter, you'll find the full text of the AMPTP's rollback proposals, the clear response to these proposals made by the negotiating committee, and a chart that describes our fair and reasonable proposals.
Collective bargaining resumes this Thursday and we remain hopeful that we can negotiate a good deal without a strike. Participating in this vote and supporting the authorization will send a powerful message: Writers are willing to take action to receive our proper share of a successful and growing industry.
Thank you again for your continued support and engagement. We are all in this together.
Sincerely,
Patric M. Verrone
President, Writers Guild West
Michael Winship
President, Writers Guild East