Writers Vote To End Strike

The membership of the WGA West and WGA East voted overwhelmingly to end their 100-day walkout. Guild officials said 3,775 writers turned out in Los Angeles and New York to cast ballots or fax in proxies, with 92.5% voting in favor of ending the work stoppage. WGAW and WGAE members will next vote to ratify the tentative three-year contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The membership ratification vote will be conducted by mail and also at membership meetings on February 25. The union’s board of directors approved a contract deal Sunday giving writers a share of the growing revenue from programs offered on the internet and other new media.

Guild leaders say they were fighting for a piece of the future, reflecting the widespread belief that Internet-delivered entertainment fare would inevitably claim an increasing and perhaps even dominant market share. The walkout stopped work on dozens of TV shows, disrupted movie production, turned the usually star-studded Golden Globes show into a news conference and threatened the upcoming Academy Awards ceremony.