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After nearly three months on the picket line, staffers at the Writers Guild of America West have announced a tentative contract that promises meaningful pay increases and new job protections, setting the stage for a quick ratification vote and an end to their work stoppage.
Tentative agreement: key headlines
The Writers Guild Staff Union (WGSU), joined by support from the Pacific Northwest Staff Union, announced the deal. The pact includes scheduled raises, layoff safeguards and other workplace reforms. A ratification vote is expected in the coming days.
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How much more pay will staff see?
The agreement sets out a multi-step pay increase plan designed to boost take-home pay across the board.
- Minimum 4% raise retroactive to Jan. 1, 2026.
- Additional 4% increases in August 2026 and August 2027.
- Overall, a minimum of 12% total increases over the three-year contract term.
- The salary floor will jump from $43,000 to $57,000, retroactive to Aug. 11, 2025.
- Longevity steps will be applied retroactively to Jan. 1, 2026 for staff at five, ten, and fifteen years in the same role.
Job security: seniority, discipline, and AI limits
Negotiators built several protections into the compact to preserve institutional knowledge and keep bargaining unit roles intact.
- Seniority-based rules in layoff procedures to protect longer-serving staff.
- Just-cause discipline with progressive measures and a stepped grievance system.
- Explicit safeguards against replacing bargaining unit positions with AI, temps, or contractors.
- Creation of a Labor-Management Committee to improve workplace communication.
Changes to pay structure and parity with East Coast staff
The contract will move the WGA West staff pay model closer to the structure used by WGA East staff unions.
- Adoption of a wage scale modeled on the WGA East approach.
- These changes aim to standardize compensation and career ladders across guild staff unions.
Next steps: ratification and return to work
The WGSU Bargaining Committee is recommending approval. If members approve the tentative deal, the staff strike will end and employees will return to their duties at the guild.
The agreement includes a no-strike clause that both sides say protects employees’ rights to concerted activity.
Context: the staff strike and the wider WGA negotiations
WGA West staffers walked out in February while WGA leadership continued contract talks with studios for writers. The office pickets at times grew tense, and the dispute led to cancellation of the in-person awards ceremony.
Earlier in April, WGA East and West separately struck a four-year deal with the studios. That package sent extra funds to the guild’s health and pension plans and preserved gains won during the 2023 labor actions on AI and streaming compensation.
