Hollywood Writers and Studios, Scrambling to Avert Strike, Reach Last-Minute Deal

By BROOKS BARNES MAY 1, 2017

LOS ANGELES — Hollywood writers reached a tentative deal for a new three-year contract with television and movie studios early Tuesday, averting a strike in dramatic overtime negotiations.

At nearly 1 a.m. on the West Coast, weary union leaders, including Patric Verrone, the former president of the Writers Guild of America, West, emerged from the offices of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of studios, and said that a favorable contract had been drawn up.

In a statement posted on its website, the Writers Guild, West, said it had made “unprecedented gains.” It added, “Did we get everything we wanted? No. Everything we deserve? Certainly not. But because we had the near-unanimous backing of you and your fellow writers, we were able to achieve a deal that will net this guild’s members $130 million more, over the life of the contract, than the pattern we were expected to accept.”

In a one-sentence joint statement, writers and the producers’ alliance said that they had secured “a tentative agreement on terms for a new three-year collective bargaining agreement.”

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