Dramatis Personae: Writers Guild of America

Well, this isn’t going to reach quite to the level of research paper, but I’ve been doing a little reading, and here, now, is the first of my Dramatis Personae articles. So: Just who are these guys, anyway?

Well, as a matter of fact, the Writers’ Guild of America is actually two entities: The Writers’ Guild of America, West, headquartered in Hollywood, and the Writers’ Guild of America, East, headquartered in New York City. They are affiliated, are both on strike, and have the same list of demands -- but to lump them always as one group would probably be a mistake. In fact, they sharpened their claws for the current squabble with studios by bitching at one another over finances. So, without further ado:

Who is in what union?

The Eastern branch had 3770 members as of 2006, consisting, in theory, of writers of films, television, and radio, though the vast majority of its members are in the film and television industries. Notable members of this branch include Tina Fey, the writers of Saturday Night Live, and Steve Bodow, head writer of The Daily Show. In fact, The Daily Show was the first Comedy Central program to go union, precipitating the unionization of Comedy Central in general. Jon Stewart was instrumental in this process, and has been particularly vocal in his support of the strike. WGAE’s President is Michael Winship, a former writer for the news progam “Now with Bill Moyers”. Its executive directory is the famously feisty Mona Mangan, who has been on the job since 1984; she’s looking to retire as soon as a replacement can be found.

The Western branch is by far the larger of the two, with just more than 7600 members as of 2006; they represent the bulk of the film industry and much of teleivision as well. Notable members include Greg Daniels of The Office, Damon Lindelhof of Lost, Joss Whedon of Buffy and the upcoming Dollhouse, and Steve Carell -- and others; if they write in Hollywood, they’re a member of WGAW. Its president is Patric Verrone, who wrote for “Futurama” and “The Critic”. A large part of Verrone’s agenda involves expanding Guild membership into reality television and animation, which both figure to be network staples if the strike drags on as long as it seems like it might. Its executive director is David Young, who recently replaced John McLean. Young is known as a strong organizer and good at the PR side of the job, but not as strong in negotiation.

How are they different?

WGAE is seen as considerably more militant than WGAW, though you can’t tell from the street protests this autumn. WGAE is affiliated with the immensely powerful AFL-CIO, the International Federation of Journalists, the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds, and Union Network International; WGAW is affiliated with only the IAWG. The last agreement with the AMPTP was passed in 2004; the WGAW approved it with a 16-1 vote of its directors, while WGAE directors gave it a considerably less resounding 10-6.

WGAW’s membership is roughly twice the size of WGAE, and its budget, as of 2005, was nearly four times as large. A National Labor Relations Board finding back then said that CBS, which airs “Two and a Half Men”, “CSI” and “How I Met Your Mother”, had violated labor laws by negotiating with WGAW without including WGAE. This led to union in-fighting and accusations by WGAE that WGAW had participated in union-busting; WGAW countered that WGAE owed it in the neighborhood of a million dollars in dues and miscellaneous charges.

Where do they come from?

They both have their origins in the 1912 founding of the Authors Guild, which included playwrites, story writers, and the like. In 1921, with film ascendant, the Screen Writers Guild formed, though in early days it was less of a union than a social club. It wasn’t until the Depression, when unions loomed large in the collective psyche of the United States, that the Guild began to operate in a more union-like fashion; starting in 1933, membership exploded, and by 1941 the SWG was conducting collective bargaining with movie studios. In 1954, what had been a union including just film writers merged with smaller groups representing television and radio writers, and divided itself in twain: Writers Guild of America, East, and Writers Guild of America, West. Originally, WGAW had two separate branches for film and television/radio, but that division was eliminated in the 1970s.

sources
www.wga.org
www.wgaeast.org
essortment.com
Wikipedia
Los Angeles Times
Two articles from Variety