Late Tuesday night WGA members voted to approve the new contract with AMPTP, ending well over three months of a strike that cost the LA economy some three billion dollars, according to the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. Of that total, said The LA Times, an estimated 772 million came from lost wages for writers and production workers, 981 million from various businesses that service the industry, including caterers and equipment rental houses, and 1.3 billion from the ripple effect of consumers not spending as much at retail shops, restaurants and car dealers.
In contrast, the 1988 WGA strike, which ran five months, caused a 500 million loss to the local economy.
The strike may have actually saved the networks and studios money, however, with all of the force majeure clauses executed and work stoppages on pilots.
The final vote was 92.5% of 3,775 writers voted in favor of ending strike, according to WGA.
"The strike is over. Our membership has voted, and writers can go back to work," Patric Verrone, president of WGA West, said in a statement.
But the bottom line in fallout may be that networks and studios that exercised force majeure clauses to cancel production and writing deals will likely not re-sign as much talent as before, and many shows will not go back into production. Much of the time has already been signed and filled with sibling cable network programs and unscripted/reality programming and overseas/Canadian productions. For example, CBS dramas "Shark," "Cane" and "The Unit" will remain on hiatus until at least the fall schedule, being replaced by "Big Brother," "Jericho" and "Dexter.”
At ABC "Dirty Sexy Money," "Private Practice" and "Pushing Daisies" will most likely wait until next season to resume production.
| See a run-down of much of what is coming back |
