The Writer’s Strike is Over

It all began back on November 5th, 2007 when members of the Writer’s Guild of America walked away from their jobs and began a strike.  And 100 days later, it’s over.

Yesterday’s vote by 3,775 writers showed that 90% of them were willing to accept the new contract between the WGA and the entertainment industry studios they work for.  Reportedly the big issue was income from Internet sources.

President of the WGA West, Patric M. Verrone, told press, “Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as TV migrates to the Internet and platforms for new media are developed.”

And with the strike still fresh in the minds of the writers, Harley Shaiken, an economist, said that the writers’ victory goes above any financial gain.  “It was a defining moment.  It showed that a very disparate group of individuals could act with real solidarity—and that packed real economic power.”

Another economist, Jack Kyser, estimates the strike, “cost the local economy more than $3 billion. Of that total, an estimated $772 million came from lost wages for writers and production workers, $981 million from various businesses that service the industry, including caterers and equipment rental houses, and $1.3 billion from the ripple effect of consumers not spending as much at retail shops, restaurants and car dealers.”

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