Hollywood Writers Go on Strike, Halting Production

Hollywood’s 15 years of labor peace was shattered Tuesday, as movie and television writers went on strike, bringing many productions to a halt and dealing a blow to an industry that has been rocked in recent years by the pandemic and sweeping technological shifts.

The unions representing the writers said in a statement, hours before their three-year contract expired at midnight Pacific time, that they had “voted unanimously to call a strike.” Writers will begin walking picket lines on Tuesday afternoon.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of Hollywood companies, said in a statement that its offer included “generous increases in compensation for writers.” The organization added that it remained willing to keep negotiating.

The primary sticking points, according to the studios, involve union proposals that would require companies to staff television shows with a certain number of writers for a specified period of time “whether needed or not.”

The unions representing the writers, the East and West branches of the Writers Guild of America, said “the companies’ behavior has created a gig economy inside a union work force, and their immovable stance in this negotiation has betrayed a commitment to further devaluing the profession of writing.”

Chris Keyser, a co-chair of the W.G.A. negotiating committee, said in an interview that “philosophically, and practically, we’re very far apart.”