Another writers’ strike might be on the way. After a week of casting ballots, the Writers Guild of America voted in favor of strike authorization today. In an email to members, the Guild announced that 96.3 percent of voters had voted yes. The results of the vote don’t necessarily guarantee that there will be a writers’ strike, but it does give the guild the power to call one if necessary, a key bargaining chip in writers’ discussions with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers. The WGA and AMPTP are scheduled to resume negotiations tomorrow over the writers’ master contract with producers, which expires on May 1.
While the infamous 2007–2008 writers’ strike focused primarily on pay for online content, these negotiations have covered several key issues, including preserving health-care and pension coverage and adjusting pay to fit a market where networks order significantly fewer episodes per season of TV. Negotiations between the WGA and AMPTP began on March 13. We’ve been tracking updates on them here.