PENCILS DOWN

Hollywood Writers Overwhelmingly Authorize Strike If Contract Expires

The Writers Guild of America’s first work stoppage in 15 years is set to kick off on May 1, when their existing contract expires.

In a record-setting vote on Monday, Hollywood’s unionized scribes overwhelmingly agreed to go on strike if a new deal is not made with studios and streamers before the current contract expires on May 1. Nearly 98 percent of eligible members of the Writers Guild West and East voted to authorize a strike, with the guild saying that a total of 9,218 writers—or nearly 79 percent of eligible members—participated in the vote. “Armed with this demonstration of unity and resolve, we will continue to work at the negotiating table to achieve a fair contract for all writers,” the guild’s negotiating committee told members on Monday. The result does not necessarily mean that a work stoppage will kick off next month; in 2017, the union narrowly averted a strike in an 11th-hour agreement after 96 percent of its writers agreed to take to the picket line if necessary. The guild last went on strike in 2007, lasting 100 days and costing the industry more than $2 billion.