Members of the Writers Guild of America East and the Writers Guild of America West voted to approve a new three-year collective bargaining agreement with three major public television stations.
Ratification of the contract with GBH in Boston, the WNET Group in New York City and PBS SoCal in Los Angeles follows the Nov. 22 announcement of a tentative agreement that averted a potential strike. The previous contract had been in place since July 2019.
“PBS writers secured a groundbreaking contract with their unwavering solidarity,” said WGAE President Lisa Takeuchi Cullen in a news release. “This contract covers PBS animation writers for the first time. It also clarifies that writer-producers must be paid for each respective job function, and provides AI protections, paid parental leave and many other critical gains.”
“Thirteen, GBH, and PBS SoCal are pleased to have reached an agreement with WGA East,” the stations said in a joint statement Nov. 22. “We look forward to continuing our work to deliver trusted public media to our audiences.”
The ratified deal sets minimum rates for the writers that will increase annually: 3.5% upon ratification; 3% on July 1, 2025, and another 3% on July 1, 2026. The stations also agreed to pay writer-producers a writing fee separately from their producing fee.
The stations will contribute an additional 0.5% of covered earnings to the guild’s health fund and any PBS writer covered by WGA health benefits may take up to eight weeks of protected paid parental leave of $2,000 per week, even if they are not currently working. Animation writers will also receive 2% residual payments for advertising video on demand from platforms like YouTube, Roku and Tubi, and 1.2% residual payments for subscription video on demand.
During contract negotiations last month, WGA announced that more than 200 animation writers signed a pledge to not cross a picket line if a strike was called at the stations. The writers work on programs like Alma’s Way, Carl the Collector, Cyberchase and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood, among others.
“Having worked in kids’ TV as both producer and writer for 20 years, there is no reason that animation writers should continue to be treated as second-class citizens compared to other writers at PBS,” said Tim McKeon, co-creator of Odd Squad and creator of Helpsters about his strike pledge last month. “Correcting this injustice is long, long overdue”
June Thiele, a writer on Molly of Denali, said a new deal was needed because of the strain it put on workers financially. “Because of the disparity in compensation and benefits between PBS writers who aren’t covered by WGA contracts and those who are covered, I’ve had to work several jobs at a time to keep writing for Molly,” Thiele said last month. “Right now I’m in the unfortunate position where my wife and I are living without health insurance due to an inability to self-pay. Being able to join the WGA would be game-changing for us — not only to have benefits, but to have workplace protections and an ability to plan for our family’s future.”
More than 1,250 WGA-East and WGA-West members signed an Oct. 30 petition supporting the freelance writers, with signatories including filmmakers Stanley Nelson Jr. and Lynn Novick and writer Geoffrey C. Ward, who worked on the Ken Burns series The Vietnam War, Jazz and Baseball. The petition was also signed by people who work for national public TV series, including American Experience, American Masters, Frontline, Nova, Great Performances and Nature.