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The Writers Guild on Friday filed new demands that could extend the three-month strike further.
Included in this request is that companies agree to “extend medical insurance benefits.” That gives strike writers more time to qualify for the health insurance that many will lose due to lack of income while on vacation.
Friday’s meeting was held to discuss terms that could lead to a return to the negotiating table. But instead of moving closer to an agreement to end the strike, the two sides may have only gotten further apart.
Under the old contract, writers had to earn at least $41,773 a year to qualify for medical insurance. But since the strike has already lost three months of income and that income continues to grow, writers will have less time to reach that income threshold once the strike ends.
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In a statement issued by the Guild last night, WGA chief negotiator Ellen Stutzman told AMPTP, “In addition to the comprehensive response from AMPTP to our proposals in all areas of work, we have: It is necessary to tackle such issues,” he said. Issues arising from the strike include “extending medical benefits” and “additional” funding to the Guild’s pension and health funds.
So far, the only medical proposal the WGA has considered is for each member of the writing team to receive pension and medical contributions as if they were writing as individuals. This is a long-standing request that companies have refused. The guild was then given the option to divert 0.5% of the minimum negotiated price increase to the P&H Fund. It was one of the few issues on which the two sides managed to reach a tentative agreement before the strike began in May. 2.
The WGA’s strike site FAQ page states, “There is no medical fund requirement that medical plans extend health insurance coverage during a strike, and the Board of Trustees is 50% management and 50% guild.” is.” If you become uninsured during a strike, you may be eligible for extended benefits under COBRA. ”
Losing health insurance is a problem for all striking industry workers. Last month, IATSE President Matt Loeb called on the IATSE and other film industry pension and health insurance schemes for low-income workers to allow them to relax their eligibility requirements, and told the program’s board of directors improved this requirement. “To help participants and dependents affected by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes”.
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SAG-AFTRA has been on strike since July 14, and its members are also facing loss of medical coverage. SAG-AFTRA National Secretary Duncan Crabtree Ireland said in a recent podcast that during the strike “the eligibility requirements will not change as far as health and pensions are concerned”. “We would like to adjust these requirements or make special exceptions, but as many members no doubt know, pension and medical plans are governed by joint boards. , half of which are controlled by studios and streamers, so we don’t expect these management trustees to agree to adjust the eligibility requirements.”
Extended medical benefits and additional funding for the WGA’s medical program aren’t the only new issues arising from the strike itself that the WGA says it needs to address. On Friday night, the WGA said Stutzmann also “clarified” that the new deal “should also address the reinstatement of striking writers and the arbitration of disputes arising during the strike.” We also demand the right of each of his WGA members to respect other unions’ picket lines just as they respected our picket lines during this strike. ”
