Writers Strike: ABC Says Writers Can Keep Working During The Strike

ABC appears to be making an effort to try and secure at least a few writers if/when the WGA strike happens. Entertainment Weekly obtained a copy of a memo issued by ABC earlier this week telling writers that they do have an option to legally cross the picket line and continue working if they want to.

According to the memo, writers can “resign their membership” prior to crossing the picket line and still keep the benefits they have under the WGA basic agreement. An ABC spokesperson stated that the memo was issued in response to “numerous inquiries by production employees of ABC Studios about whether they could continue to work during a strike.”

Exec director of the WGA, Mona Mangan didn’t seem impressed by the memo, and according to EW, said, “They send out the same tired stuff. They've all got it in the filing cabinet somewhere. A member has an obligation to strike if there's been a majority vote, and we had over 90 percent of the members vote to support this strike. So there's not a lot of dissonance anywhere.”

So despite the fact that writers might technically be able to continue producing material for their series, based on what Mangan said, it seems unlikely that many of them will cross the picket line. Earlier this week, Buffy (and coming soon - Dollhouse!) creator, Joss Whedon told E!’s Kristin Dos Santos that he supports what the WGA is doing, stating, “I will be busy picketing. I support the guild, and I think what we are doing is unfortunate, but necessary. And that means I don't get to have my fun, but that isn't the point.”.

According to Reuters, “One of the biggest stumbling blocks in the contract talks has been writers' demand for an increase in the "residual" fees they earn on the reuse of their work on DVDs -- from about 4 cents for every DVD to about 8 cents.” The site said if the WGA got their way, the compensation package would cost $220 million over three years. That might sound like a lot but considering DVD sales and rentals generated $24.4 billion last year alone, a couple hundred million over three years is kind of a drop in the bucket.

As much as I’m going to hate it if this strike affects my favorite TV shows, I can understand why the writers would feel entitled to a bigger piece of the pie. So hopefully the bulk of them will stand firm until a reasonable agreement can be made.