Members
Last April, the Guild’s non-supervisory staff organized a union under the Pacific Northwest Staff Union (PNWSU) and was promptly recognized by the WGAW. The Board sent an email to the membership congratulating the staff union on its formation. Guild staff leadership has been in negotiations for a first contract with the PNWSU since the staff union was ready to begin in September, and has been focused ever since on reaching a deal.
The staff union told the Guild on January 29 that they had voted to grant strike authorization to their bargaining committee. PNWSU went on strike on February 17. The linked documents and the FAQ below are intended to provide information and context about the current situation:
- Summary of the status of WGAW and PNWSU proposals
- Current WGAW comprehensive proposal to the staff union
If you have any questions, please contact us here.
FAQ
Non-supervisory staff at the WGAW are represented by the Pacific Northwest Staff Union (PNWSU), a labor union that represents the staff of a number of labor unions and non-profits. On April 22, 2025, the staff demanded voluntary recognition of the PNWSU as their collective bargaining representative.
On the same day, WGAW staff leadership agreed to voluntarily recognize the PNWSU via a card check process.
On April 29, the PNWSU was formally recognized as the labor union representing WGAW non-supervisory staff, after a mutually-selected neutral party verified the PNWSU represented a majority of non-supervisory Guild staff.
The PNWSU has no paid staff and relies on volunteers and elected leadership to organize and negotiate contracts. The chief negotiator for the WGAW staff union is PNWSU President Brandon Tippy, who is a staff member of an SEIU local in Washington state. There are 27 WGAW employees on the staff union’s negotiating committee, about 20% of the bargaining unit.
PNWSU represents 115 non-supervisory staff who work at the Guild. Around 50 executive, supervisory/management, and confidential staff are outside the bargaining unit. This unit was agreed upon by both the Guild and the PNWSU during the voluntary recognition process last April.
No. Under the Guild’s Constitution, management of the WGAW staff and operations is delegated to Executive Director Ellen Stutzman. The Board does not have a role in overseeing Guild employee relations nor in negotiating the PNWSU contract, though Ellen regularly updates the Board about the status of negotiations. You can read the Board’s statement on the PNWSU’s announcement of their strike authorization vote, and the Board’s statement on the PNWSU’s strike.
The WGAW already offers competitive salaries and benefits as a non-profit, union employer. All unions are required by federal labor law to publicly disclose the salaries of every staff member on an annual basis, which provides transparency to all employees and job-seekers in the labor movement. Some of the current, pre-contract terms include:
- Annual wage increases normally equal to the minimum increases that writers have negotiated in the MBA;
- Participation in the same PWGA Health and Pension Funds writers struck to establish, and have fought to fund;
- 401k retirement plan with matching employer contributions;
- Tax-advantaged health and dependent expense savings programs;
- 11 paid holidays;
- 12-25 vacation days per year, based on years of service;
- 12 sick days per year and the ability to accrue six months of sick leave;
- Paid parental leave;
- 37.5-hour workweek for fulltime employees;
- 2 days of remote work per week, provided job duties don’t require more in-office time.
Over the course of negotiations with the PNWSU, the WGAW has made proposals that improve on the existing wages, hours and working conditions of Guild staff.
This summary shows the current state of WGAW and PNWSU proposals. The Guild opened with a comprehensive offer which has been improved over the course of 19 bargaining sessions.
See the full, current WGAW proposal (with contract language) to PNWSU for more details.
The foundation of the MBA was laid 90 years ago and built up over the decades. So when the WGA sits across from the AMPTP, writers are seeking modifications to a discrete set of terms that are part of a well-established, intricate 700-page agreement. In addition, the companies represented by the AMPTP are some of the largest corporations in the world and generate billions in profit based on the works writers create. The WGAW is a non-profit labor union funded by the dues paid by each member.
The staff union is negotiating its first contract, which is often a longer and more challenging process. In a first contract, every word and clause must be discussed thoroughly and agreed upon during bargaining to be sure both sides understand its intent and how the contract will work in practice.
The Guild has tried to meet as many of the PNWSU’s concerns as possible, and find compromises on others.
No. The Guild immediately granted recognition of the staff union through a card check process. The WGAW Board congratulated Guild staff on forming a union, and stated that “[t]he right to organize and collectively bargain are central tenets of our organization.” After the PNWSU announced its strike authorization vote, the Board reiterated that it “continues to support the staff’s right to engage in collective action.”
Guild staff leadership allows staff union representatives to participate in disciplinary meetings on paid time, supervisors have been trained to refrain from discussing the staff union with those in the bargaining unit; and concerns raised by PNWSU have been swiftly investigated. Staff leadership provided PNWSU with requested information to prepare for bargaining, on-site space for bargaining unit meetings, and made representatives available for 19 bargaining dates so far. Despite PNWSU allegations, no employee has been retaliated against for their union activity and staff leadership has made it clear to all supervisors that anti-union activity will not be tolerated. When PNWSU alleges unfair treatment, the Guild asks for evidence, investigates claims, and takes corrective action if warranted.
The Guild’s staff leadership has handled negotiations with the same approach. The first proposal to the staff union was comprehensive and contained important union protections, 3% annual increases to salaries across the board in Years 2 and 3 as opening wage increases (in addition to 3% already given the first year), plus increases to starting salaries of some entry level positions, and an extra holiday. There have been additional improvements as the negotiations have proceeded, including robust AI protections that preserve bargaining unit positions. We’ve prepared a summary of the status of WGAW and PNWSU proposals, and you can read the WGAW’s current comprehensive proposal to the staff union.
In 2022, PNWSU staff at SEIU Local 2015 in Los Angeles conducted a two week strike during a wage reopener negotiation. Their strike ended when the union accepted the same offer that had been on the table prior to the start of their strike.
The Guild will continue to bargain with the PNWSU in good faith.
The core work of the Guild will continue, supported by the 50 staff (30% of the entire Guild staff) not in the bargaining unit.
MBA negotiations in particular will be minimally impacted since the executive staff and managers who play key roles working directly with the WGA Negotiating Committee will not be on strike.
Unless otherwise announced, during the PNWSU strike, the Guild’s headquarters at 3rd and Fairfax will be closed to members and the public, including the Foundation, library, and member lounge. Guild screenings at the Writers Guild Theater, committee meetings, panels, and educational events will also be suspended.
Members who have RSVP’d for an off-site member/MBA meeting will be notified at least 12 hours in advance if the meeting is postponed.
Guild inboxes will continue to be monitored, so please reach out if you have a current enforcement issue that needs immediate attention or contact us if you have other time-sensitive Guild business.
No, the Guild is not soliciting bargaining unit staff to work during the strike. The PNWSU went on strike on Tuesday, February 17 at 12:00 p.m. The Guild did not lockout the staff. After the strike started, the Guild did restrict bargaining unit employees’ building and IT access for security reasons, which required us to ask the staff if they are working so they could regain access and to make sure any working employee is properly paid. It is the Guild’s legal obligation as an employer to not discriminate against those who choose not to strike, nor those who choose to strike. The text of the email the Guild sent to all bargaining unit staff at 1:55 p.m. on February 17 is included below.
Earlier today, the Pacific Northwest Staff Union (PNWSU) called a strike against the WGAW. Effective Wednesday, February 18, Guild staff not on strike will be working remotely unless instructed otherwise by their supervisor.
As you are in the bargaining unit represented by the PNWSU, we are writing to ask whether you intend to work your regularly scheduled work hours today and for the remainder of the week. The reason we are asking this question is so that bargaining unit employees who choose to continue to work have IT access (e.g., VPN and Remote Desktop) to do their jobs and are paid properly. If you are striking, please be advised that you may not access Guild property, including the Guild’s IT systems such as your WGAW Outlook email account or Remote Desktop.
You are not required to respond to this email.
No employee will be retaliated against either for participating in a lawful work stoppage or for choosing to work. Nor will any employee be retaliated against based on their response (or lack of response) to this email.
No. A member of the staff was terminated for performance issues prior to the PNWSU launching its union recognition drive in April of 2025. Since the staff union organized, two staff members have been terminated for cause. In both instances, the PNWSU represented the two employees during the discipline process and the Guild provided the PNWSU the information relevant to the terminations. During negotiations for the first contract with the PNWSU, the WGAW offered interim just cause discipline protections, as well as a grievance and arbitration procedure, which would have allowed the PNWSU to arbitrate whether there was just cause for the two terminations. The PNWSU rejected the WGAW’s offer.
The PNWSU became the exclusive representative of WGAW non-management staff on April 29, 2026. The PNWSU first contacted the Guild on July 23, 2025 to schedule negotiations for a first contract, requesting “to enter negotiations by the end of August 2025.” On July 29, the Guild offered 21 dates in August and September 2025 that it was available to bargain. On August 11, the PNWSU selected September 9, 2025 to begin bargaining. The parties have held 19 bargaining sessions between September 9, 2025 and February 2, 2026.
Because this is a first contract negotiation, there is neither a ‘no strike clause’ nor a contract deadline, which allows the PNWSU to strike at any time.