The Writers Guild of Canada (WGC) is expressing solidarity with the Writers Guild of America (WGA) as it begins its first two weeks of contract negotiations with studios in the U.S.

Collective bargaining between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) began on Monday (March 20) in Los Angeles to draft a new three-year Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) to replace the 2020 contract, which expires May 1 and covers screen, television and new media writers.

Victoria Shen (pictured), executive director, WGC, tells Playback Daily that WGA members are their “closest colleagues” and are in communication, noting both the WGC and WGA are members of the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds, an international body representing guilds of professional screenwriters. “We respect each others’ jurisdiction and support one another in advancing the rights of screenwriters around the world.”

The MBA covers the benefits, rights and protections for most of the work done by WGA members, according to the guild’s website. The MBA is negotiated every three years between the AMPTP and the WGA’s East (WGAE) and West (WGAW) unions.

The WGA is currently seeking to “reclaim our fair and reasonable share of the industry’s future profits and spending based on fair and reasonable value for their work,” said Eric Haywood, a member of the WGA negotiating committee and WGA West board of directors, in a video on the guild’s YouTube site.

According to the WGA Contract 2023 website, “companies have leveraged the streaming transition to underpay writers, creating more precarious, lower-paid models for writers’ work,” citing shorter work periods, and a lack of “basic MBA protections” for writers working on comedy-variety productions such as late night formats on streaming sites. Among the negotiation objectives is a standardized “compensation and residual terms for features whether released theatrically or on streaming.”

A statement from the AMPTP said its “companies approach this negotiation and the ones to follow with the long-term health and stability of the industry as our priority.”

“We are all partners in charting the future of our business together and fully committed to reaching a mutually beneficial deal with each of our bargaining partners. The goal is to keep production active so that all of us can continue working and continue to deliver to consumers the best entertainment product available in the world,” the statement added.

The WGA Contract 2023 said if it appears an acceptable agreement can’t be reached, “the negotiating committee may recommend to the WGAW board and WGAE council that the membership takes a strike authorization vote. If the WGAW board and WGAE council agree with the negotiating committee, they will authorize a membership vote.”

Should a majority of members vote in favour of a strike, “the WGAW board and WGAE council, in consultation with the negotiating committee, have the authority to call a strike after the contract expires and there is no acceptable agreement,” says the site.

The last time negotiations between the two sides resulted in a strike was 2007 to ’08, and it lasted for 100 days.

Shen says in all the WGC’s communications with the WGA, they “know they are entering those negotiations in good faith and with the intent of reaching an agreement,” and the WGC expects “the WGA will get an excellent deal for their members.”

“In the unfortunate event of a WGA strike, productions with Canadian-resident writers working under a WGC contract will not be impacted at all. Productions shooting under WGA contracts may experience disruptions,” Shen says.

“We are also going into negotiations later this year with the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) for the renewal of the Independent Production Agreement (IPA). Ongoing labour unrest with screenwriters in the U.S. would be something we would take into consideration, but at the forefront will be our own issues and priorities for Canadian screenwriters.”

WGC members ratified an 18-month extension of its IPA with the CMPA last year, which is scheduled to expire on Dec. 31. The IPA ratified in 2019 removed the digital section of the agreement to ensure work from streaming services and linear cable would be subject to the same minimum fees.

If a WGA strike were to happen, the WGC would respect it “and WGC members would not accept struck work.”

“‘Struck work’ would include anything that is normally considered a WGA show. For example, this includes U.S.-based productions and productions that are already under a WGA contract,” Shen says. “To be clear, WGC has jurisdiction in Canada and our writers are able and available for work.”

Photo courtesy of the WGC