Striking writers and studios talking again
LOS ANGELES – Officials with the striking writers guild held informal talks Tuesday with Hollywood studios that could lead to the resumption of negotiations, a person familiar with the bargaining strategy said.
The talks preceded an expected guild meeting later in the day that was to address the union’s next step as it seeks a new contract, said the person who was not authorized to publicly comment and asked for anonymity.
Bargaining between the writers guild and the studios’ trade group, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, broke down Dec. 7 after the alliance demanded the guild take a half-dozen issues off the table, including unionization of reality TV shows. The guild refused.
Let us hope. That’s the whole article, but you can see it in context on the MSNBC page right here, next to the sobering news about actor Heath Ledger
And later, the WGA released this statement:
On Wednesday, January 23, the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will begin informal discussions to determine if there is a basis for both parties to return to formal negotiations. Both the AMPTP and the WGA have agreed to make no public comments about the informal discussions until those discussions have concluded.
