WGA members to vote Tuesday on ending strike
Feb 10, 2008, 06:24 PM | by Vanessa Juarez
Categories: Strike
All signs seem to indicate that the writers' strike is about to end, but there are a few minor details that need to be hashed out — namely, a vote by the WGA membership to approve the proposed contract with the AMPTP. That will happen Tuesday when writers cast ballots at meetings in New York and Los Angeles, according to Writer's Guild prez Patric Verrone, who held a press conference today. He went out of his way to thank Disney president and CEO Bob Iger and Fox head Peter Chernin, "whose leadership was instrumental in reaching this agreement."
In an email message to members, Verrone got more technical, detailing the process to come. "There is, however, another issue to address: whether to lift the restraining order, and end the strike, during the ratification process," he wrote. "We are asking the members to decide this issue [during the Tuesday vote]. A yes vote means you are voting to end the strike immediately; a no vote means you are voting to continue the strike during the ratification process [which will take 10 to 12 days]." The vote on the strike will be separate from ratification of the contract. The former will be held 2 to 6 pm Pacific time Tuesday (writers in New York will have to fax theirs in) — the results of which will be announced that night. Until then, all picketing will be suspended. In the meantime, writer-producers who serve as showrunners can resume their producer duties on Monday. If the WGA membership votes to lift the strike, all writers are expected to return to work Wednesday.
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