Writers Guild of America


The Writers Guild of America is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media:
Although both organizations operate independently, they perform some common activities, including negotiating contracts and launching strike actions, as well as maintaining the American database of writing credits, and arbitrating between writers when conflicts arise.

Background and founding

Both organizations of the Writers Guild of America were established by 1954 after the merging of groups from other writers labor unions. The Authors Guild was originally founded in 1912 as the Authors' League of America to represent book and magazine authors, as well as dramatists. In 1921, the Dramatists Guild of America split off as a separate group to represent writers of stage and, later, radio drama. That same year, the Screen Writers Guild was formed to represent film screenwriters, but operated primarily more as a social organization until 1933 when the group affiliated with the AG and took on a more active role in labor negotiations. With the emergence of the television industry by 1948, the SWG and a Television Writers Group within the AG began to represent TV writers. In recognition of the growing complexity of representing members in many different fields of entertainment writing, the unions reorganized in 1954. Both the Authors Guild and the Dramatists Guild would continue to represent writers in print media, the SWG would fold, and those working in motion pictures, TV, and radio would be represented by two new guilds, headquartered on both coasts: the WGAE and the WGAW.

Differences between East & West

Membership in either WGAE or WGAW is generally contingent on geography. If a writer is eligible for union membership, and the job that grants them eligibility has them work on the western side of the Mississippi River, they are represented by the Writers Guild of America West. If the job is on the east side of the river, similarly, they are represented by the Writers Guild of America East. If a writer joins one union at the start of their career, and they move across the Mississippi River, they are not required to transfer to the other guild. They must remain in good standing with their original guild, and requesting a transfer between the unions is then optional.
WGAW is the larger of the two unions, both in membership and support staff, and this is due to the history of film and television in the United States. At the time of the dissolution of the Screen Writers Guild in 1954, most television and film writing was done in Los Angeles. While this is still largely true, the Californian film industry has begun to shrink in recent years due to the collapse of the streaming business model, and the rising cost-of-living in California. Writers have been forced to either leave the industry or move to areas outside of Los Angeles they can afford. Some of these new production hubs, like Albuquerque, New Mexico, are still within the jurisdiction of the Writers Guild of America West, but the growing production hubs like Chicago, Atlanta, and New Orleans are all under the jurisdiction of the Writers Guild of America East.

Common activities

Although the WGAE and the WGAW run independently of each other, they jointly perform some regular activities, including the following:
The WGAE and WGAW negotiate contracts in unison as well as launch strike actions simultaneously.