Latest in WGA East

Women writers carried the day in the WGA East's Council elections, winning nine of the ten seats up for grabs. The only man to win a seat was former WGA East president Michael Winship. It was also a good day for incumbents, who won eight of the ten contests. Votes were cast by just over 12% of the guild's 6,208…

The WGA East has reached an agreement with NBC News Studios for the coverage of programs produced by the recently established unit. The deal ends a bitter battle in which the union accused NBCUniversal of "union busting" in a dispute over the shuttering of its now-defunct Peacock Productions, formerly the in-house…

EXCLUSIVE: The WGA East will hold an online forum on August 11 to advocate for the inclusion of more people of color as voices on mainstream news programs and nonfiction shows. The members-only conversation will be moderated by Michael Harriot, senior writer at TheRoot.com, where he covers the intersection of race…

Hearst Magazines' digital and print staff has voted overwhelmingly – 241 to 83 – to unionize with the WGA East in an election administered by the National Labor Relations Board. The new bargaining unit includes some 500 members from Hearst Magazine's editorial, video, design, photo, and social staffs across 28 digital…

With newsrooms across the country reeling from the loss of advertising revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and vowing to become more racially sensitive and inclusive during the ongoing nationwide social justice movement, the WGA East and Slate have agreed to launch a work-share program and new editorial guidelines…

Creators and showrunners aren't mentioned in the industry's protocols for the safe reopening of TV production, but they'll play key roles in on-set safety, according to leaders of the WGA East. "There have been some rumors going around that the protocols aim to exclude creators, showrunners and writer/producers from…

With declines in advertising revenue devastating news organizations across the country because of the coronavirus pandemic, 14 U.S. Senators have signed a letter urging Senate leaders to specifically "include payroll support for digital-native news professionals in the next COVID-19-related legislation." The letter is…

Seven women and minority writers have been selected to take part in the inaugural New York Screenwriters Workshop – a six-month intensive program that focuses on professional development for diverse, emerging screenwriters in the greater New York City area. The workshop is a partnership between the WGA East and FilmNat…

AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Liz Shuler will host a press call Friday with leaders of the WGA East and the NewsGuild-CWA to discuss their efforts at mitigating the economic fallout from the coronavirus crisis on their members as newsrooms across the country are facing furloughs, layoffs and budget cuts. "This is…

More than 1,200 members of the WGA East have signed a petition calling on Congress to pass immediate financial relief for news-gathering organizations, many of which have seen advertising revenues plummet by more than 50% during the coronavirus pandemic. Signers include David Simon (The Plot Against America), Tom…

As the economy begins to reopen, unions covering newsroom workers are encouraging employers to "protect as many jobs as possible during this crisis" and to adopt coronavirus testing and "strict contact tracing" protocols to prevent the spread of the virus among news teams. "Thousands of workers across the media…

On the eve of bargaining with the AMPTP for a new film and TV contract, WGA East executive director Lowell Peterson said today that his members have “mostly kept working” despite the industry's COVID-19 shutdown. Those contract talks, which will start next week, will be conducted at the same time – though separately…