WGA’s Contract Priorities Begin to Take Shape as 2026 Negotiations Loom

It took nearly a decade for the number of working writers in Hollywood to climb from just over 5,000 to nearly 7,000 at the peak of Peak TV in 2022.

It has taken just two years to collapse. Only 5,228 TV and film writers reported income last year, according to the Writers Guild of America West, the lowest number since 2013.

That disruption is the dominant theme of the WGA West election, now getting underway. It has also informed the guild’s priorities heading into next year’s contract negotiation, the first since the historic five-month strike of 2023.

“It’s a very scary time,” said Jeff Thompson, a candidate for vice president. “I know very few people who are in the industry who feel any sense of security.”

In the upcoming talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the WGA is expected to focus on shoring up its health and pension plans, which were last a top priority in 2017.

“Since then, rapidly rising healthcare costs and fewer contributions to the Plan due to the industry contraction mean we’ll need to make smart moves in order to continue to provide the high level of care and benefits our members have fought so hard to secure,” said Michele Mulroney, who is running unopposed for president of WGA West, in a candidate statement.

The union is also starting to turn its attention to organizing writers who work on YouTube shows, recognizing that it needs to keep pace with where the audiences are going as traditional entertainment struggles.

“We are seeing so many non-union writers fill up the podcast space, the YouTube space. These people are creating content,” said Dahéli Hall, a candidate for the board. “Let’s find a nuanced way to have people become partners and be protected as a union.”

Adam Conover, an incumbent board member, also pushed for organizing writers on “creator” channels in his candidate statement.

“They now make scripted, narrative content like sitcoms and soap operas that compete directly with the studios that traditionally employ us,” he wrote. “Like it or not, this is the future of television.”

The upcoming negotiations are also expected to touch on many of the issues that animated the strike, including artificial intelligence, residuals and minimum staffing levels in TV. Having established a floor of at least three to six writers per show, depending on the number of episodes per season, the guild could look to increase those numbers in the next round.

“It’s great we got a minimum room size out of the last negotiation,” said Peter Murrieta, a candidate for secretary-treasurer. “People are talking about, ‘Has it become a floor, or is it the ceiling?’ Let’s get some data and find out.”

Amid the slowdown, many writers are spending significant time developing and refining ideas that ultimately go nowhere — leaving them without a paycheck. Feature writers have long complained about “free work,” but now it’s become a greater issue for TV writers as well.

“It won’t be an easy negotiation,” said Van Robichaux, who is also running for secretary-treasurer. “We anticipate the companies will ask for rollbacks.”

Robichaux, who previously ran for the board, said he has been frustrated by a lack of communication from the WGA to writers since the strike ended.

“I think there was a wasted opportunity to keep that energy going and to direct that energy into a positive place,” he said. “The current leadership doesn’t feel like they need to communicate to the membership why there is a slowdown.”

While neither the companies nor the writers are eager for another strike, Robichaux said he would not be surprised to see another strike authorization vote.

“The solidarity is still strong,” he said. “There’s an understanding in the membership that standing together did get us gains in the last strike on things that really did matter. People will stick together again.”

Some candidates for office have expressed unease about disciplinary actions that were taken against four writers earlier this year. The membership voted narrowly to expel two writers who were accused of breaking strike rules, and to suspend a third. A writer who made a tasteless joke on Facebook during the strike was also subjected to a public censure, but the members voted to overturn that discipline.

“It made me uncomfortable to see us divided internally by that particular issue,” said Kevin Miller, a candidate for the board. “I don’t know that it was handled in the best way possible.”