The Hollywood Writers Guild calls an indefinite strike

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) did not reach an agreement after several days of negotiations, so the writers of hollywood They will start a strike this Tuesday that could paralyze the industry.

The WGA claims approximately 600 million dollars in salary increases and other benefits, such as “residuals”, the compensation that a team member receives each time their product is broadcast on television again and that, according to the union, have been diminished by streaming platforms.

The union’s last strike was in 2007 and lasted for more than a month, costing the US audiovisual industry $2.1 billion and laying off 37,000 professionals.

Hollywood is living turbulent weeks after the union and the big studios, represented in the AMPTP, have not reached an agreement to renew the collective contract that has linked them for the last three years, which ends at midnight this Monday .

The writers aspire to sign a package of salary increases valued at almost 600 million dollars, which would include an increase in the minimum wage, the creation of a pension plan, “decent” health insurance and the review of what is known as “residuals”. ”, individual payments for productions issued mainly in “streaming”.

However, the union’s demands clash with the economic situation of companies like The Walt Disney Company, Warner Bros. and Netflix, They are trying to cut costs to cope with their high levels of debt in an obviously saturated market.

WITH INFORMATION FROM EFE.