Remarks by Carol Lombardini regarding the Producers’ Comprehensive Package Proposal presented today (10/25) to the WGAW and WGAE (see link below for the proposal)
We began the process of negotiating for a successor Agreement to the 2004 MBA back on July 16th. We’ve had a number of across-the-table sessions since then, almost none of which has resulted in any progress at the bargaining table. At the outset, the Producers offered you what we called the “Limited Issues Package,” an opportunity to reach a three-year agreement with wage increases, modifications to ensure the financial health of the pension and health plan provisions as needed, and other limited adjustments. In return, we asked that you and we together conduct a study of the new media platforms during the term of the next Agreement, so that when we next returned to the bargaining table, both parties would have a common foundation of information from which to negotiate. You immediately and emphatically rejected that suggestion, stating that a study was unnecessary and that you were not prepared to give up your demands for substantial improvements in other areas of the contract.
Since then, you have summarily rejected the vast majority of the Producers’ proposals, dismissing them as “rollbacks” that you will not accept. Even when we have brought forward facts to demonstrate that a number of these proposals are not “rollbacks,” but are instead initiatives to remove obstacles that impede or preclude our ability to engage in commerce, when we have shown that the removal of those obstacles would result in revenues to us – and, therefore, a corresponding benefit to you by way of additional payments -- you have turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to our initiatives.
On October 16th, the Producers withdrew their recoupment proposal from the table, a proposal which you had publicly stated was preventing us from reaching an agreement. We had hoped that the abandonment of that proposal would change the dynamics of this negotiation, would stimulate dialog between us and cause both parties to re-assess their respective positions on the issues on the table.
Unfortunately, that has not been the case. Since the Producers’ withdrawal of the recoupment proposal, you have made no moves at all on your proposals, much less any move that matched the magnitude of the removal of the recoupment proposal. And after your initial and summary rejections of the Producers’ proposals, in which you rarely articulated a reason for your response, you have now proceeded to simply ignore them. Within the past two days, you issued a statement to the press once again declaring your intention not to discuss the Producers’ proposals. “Not now, not ever,” the press release trumpeted.
It is no wonder that so many put the odds of us reaching agreement so low.
In light of this background, the Producers’ representatives spent the last two days re-evaluating the proposals on the table – both our proposals and yours. Today, we submit to you a Comprehensive Proposal, prepared with the recognition that with only a week remaining on the term of our current contract, it is incumbent on each party to make the moves necessary to try and find the common ground that will result in an agreement between us. This Comprehensive Proposal attempts to do just that. It lays the groundwork, but not the precise details, of an agreement. It sets aside the less vital proposals on both sides of the table. You will note a significant number of modifications to the Producers’ proposals. Other Producers’ proposals, even though justified by business considerations, are withdrawn as part of this proposal. Still other Producer proposals are packaged with withdrawals of the Guilds’ proposals. The Comprehensive Proposal establishes the boundaries of a possible agreement, but it is flexible enough to allow both parties to come up with solutions to the remaining issues. One of the boundaries that must be observed in reaching any agreement is the clear line of demarcation drawn by the Producers on October 16th in conjunction with their withdrawal of the recoupment proposal: we will not accept increases in the DVD residual formula, in residual payments due for programs run on the CW or MyNetwork TV, or in residual payments for programs made for the pay television market.
This Comprehensive Proposal is admittedly still a rough layout with circumscribed parameters. Nevertheless, its framework offers us the opportunity for resolving the challenging issues that remain on the table. We present it to you in that spirit, believing that it charts a course worthy of deliberate study in the week ahead.
Producers’ Comprehensive Package Proposal presented 10.25.07 to the WGAW and WGAE