DGA Execs Get Nod to Enter Into Early Negotiations with AMPTP
Posted December 13, 2007 10:42 AM
DGA president Michael Apted and negotiating committee chair Gil Cates have been authorized to start early contract talks with the AMPTP. The DGA is under contract through June 30 but has a history of making new deals about six months before the expiration of existing agreements.
This announcement doesn't bode well for the WGA. It's typical that the guild that is first to reach an agreement with the AMPTP sets the fate of the remaining guilds. In 2004, the WGA played hardball with the AMPTP by refusing to agree to a contract by expiration - and worked without one for over 6 months. It pinned its hopes on the DGA fighting the AMPTP for the same things - ultimately setting up a "Perfect Storm" in which all three guilds would ban together to force the AMPTP to meet its contractual demands. The "Perfect Storm" never happened, the DGA reached an early agreement, and the WGA was left out in the cold. The WGA eventually got a contract, but did not get retroactive increases, which meant that writers lost six months worth of raises.
It looks like the DGA is, once again, in the position of guiding the industry - and either supporting or under cutting the WGA contractual goals. What do you think will happen?
2 Comments
Public support is behind the writers - if the DGA undercuts the WGA they will be cutting themselves off at the knees.
Well, DGA made its deal and the AMPTP is asking that the WGA return to the table. It seems as though pressure will be on the Writers Guild to come to terms with the AMPTP. What do you think the WGA leadership will do now? Can it hold out much longer? Does SAG hold the "wild card?"