Hollywood Writers Vote to End Strike

by Jarrett Martineau | February 12, 2008 at 11:38 pm | 436 views | add comment

Writer's Guild of America East Soladarity Rally in Washington Square

by John Edwards 2008

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UPDATED: The strike is finally over. Now the real work begins: "Aaaand...Action!"

Hollywood’s writers made it official on Tuesday night, ending their bitterly fought strike at the 100-day mark by an overwhelming margin. Of 3,775 writers who cast ballots, 92.5 percent voted in favor of ending the strike. Officials of the Writers Guild of America West and the Writers Guild of America East disclosed results of the tally an hour after voting had closed at 6 p.m. here.

“The strike is over,” Patric M. Verrone, president of the West Coast guild, said in a statement.

“Our membership has voted, and writers can go back to work.”

PREVIOUSLY: If the vote is passed, television productions can be restarted immediately and the Oscars ceremony can finally go ahead as planned. I can almost hear the industry and guild members holding their breath.

The power to put the entertainment industry back to work was in the hands of writers Tuesday as guild members voted on whether to end their 3-month strike by accepting the terms of a tentative contract.

Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America, East, said he was confident the vote would end the walkout as soon as Wednesday. Writers were lined up when the doors of the Writers Guild Theater in Beverly Hills opened for voting.