13 February 2008

The Strike is OFFICIALLY OVER

Well, it was coming anyway, but just to put it on record...

The writers strike has officially ended.

The Writers Guild of America announced just before 7 p.m. that members voted to lift the strike order with a 92.5% endorsement. WGA West president Patric Verrone - the most visible figure during the 14-week strike - made the announcement.

"The strike is over," he said. "Our membership has voted, and writers can go back to work. This was not a strike we wanted, but one we had to conduct in order to win jurisdiction and establish appropriate residuals for writing in new media and on the Internet. Those advances now give us a foothold in the digital age. Rather than being shut out of the future of content creation and delivery, writers will lead the way as TV migrates to the Internet and platforms for new media are developed."

The official tally showed 3,492 voting yes and 283 voting no.

The announcement capped over three months of walking, talking, picketing, chanting, strategizing, ballyhoo and bluster from both sides as the long and winding road of the strike came to an end at a ballot box in Beverly Hills.

The vote on lifting the strike concluded a mere three days after the WGA cinched its contract agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers in the wee hours of a Saturday morning. The strike vote was held over a 48-hour frame, with members able to vote in person at the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills and Gotham's Crowne Plaza Hotel, or via fax.

Source