The 2007–2008 Writers Guild of America strike was a strike by the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) and the Writers Guild of America, west (WGAW).[1] The WGAE and WGAW labor unions represent film, television and radio writers working in the United States. More than 12,000 writers joined the strike[2] which started on November 5, 2007 and concluded on February 12, 2008.
The strike was against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), a trade organization representing the interests of 397 American film and television producers.[3] The most influential of these are eight corporations: CBS Corporation (headed by Les Moonves), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (headed by Harry E. Sloan), NBC Universal (headed by Jeffrey Zucker), News Corp/Fox (headed by Peter Chernin), Paramount Pictures (headed by Brad Grey), Sony Pictures Entertainment (headed by Michael Lynton), the Walt Disney Company (headed by Robert Iger), and Warner Brothers (headed by Barry M. Meyer).[4]
Negotiators for the striking writers reached a tentative agreement on February 8, 2008, and the boards of both guilds unanimously approved the deal on February 10, 2008.[5] Striking writers voted on February 12, 2008 on whether to lift the restraining order, with 92.5% voting to end the strike.[6] On February 26, the WGA announced that the contract had been ratified with a 93.6% approval among WGA members.[7]
The guilds were on strike for 14 weeks and 2 days (100 days).[8] In contrast, the previous strike in 1988 lasted 21 weeks and 6 days (153 days), costing the American entertainment industry an estimated $500 million ($870 million in 2007 dollars).[9][10]
According to an NPR report filed on February 12, 2008, the strike cost the economy of Los Angeles an estimated $1.5 billion. A report from the UCLA Anderson School of Management put the loss at only $380 million, and economist Jack Kyser put the loss at $2.1 billion