The WGA is one step closer to a strike that will delay The Walking Dead

On Monday the members of the Writer’s Guild of America voted to authorize a strike. If the WGA and the AMPTP can’t reach an agreement by May 1^st a writer’s strike could delay The Walking Dead and other shows heading into production.

The Walking Dead cast and crew have been posting photos from Senoia, GA on social media. But if the Writers Guild of America goes on strike filming and production on season 8 of TAMC’s zombie drama series will likely be delayed.

The WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have been facing off for the last couple of months over increased pay for writers as well as healthcare and other issues.

According to Entertainment Weekly today the members of the WGA voted to authorize a strike that will shut down late night TV and the TV shows that are in production or starting production. The Walking Dead is just starting to film season 8. If a strike happens season 8 could be delayed.

Entertainment Weekly also reported that the strike authorization vote got a whopping 93% approval from the voting members of the WGA. That doesn’t mean that a strike is unavoidable though.

There’s Still Time To Make A Deal

Tensions are running high now that the WGA members have approved a strike. But there is still time for both parties to come to an agreement and prevent a shutdown of TV production. The current agreement between the WGA and the AMPTP runs out at midnight on May 1^st, 2017. If the parties can reach a settlement before that time the strike won’t happen.

But if the two groups can’t find some common ground and make a new agreement the strike begins on May 2^nd. That will shut down all TV production for series that are filming now like The Walking Dead and late night shows that film all year long.

The Impact Of A Strike

The last time the WGA went on strike in 2007-2008 the strike lasted for 100 days, or just over 14 weeks. Considering that it takes about a week to film a regular episode of The Walking Dead a 14 week strike would delay a huge portion of season 8.

During the last strike hundreds of millions of dollars were lost while shows waited to be created and actors and crew waited to work. Hopefully if there is a strike it will be resolved quickly.

But tense words have been exchanged between the two groups now that the WGA has made it clear that they do intend to strike if their demands aren’t met before May 2^nd.

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What The WGA Wants

There are several issues on the table that the WGA wants addressed. Healthcare for WGA writers is one issue. But the main issue is the way that writers are paid for cable and streaming network shows. Broadcast TV shows usually have orders for 18-22 episodes per season. Cable show and streaming shows have far fewer episodes. But the production time is the same as the production time for broadcast shows.

While a writer is contracted to a show they are obligated to work exclusively on that show until the show is done with production. But they get paid per episode. So when writers work on cable and streaming shows they lose money because they are getting paid for fewer episodes and they can’t work on multiple shows at the same time.

The WGA wants new agreements that pay writers more per episode and allow them to work on multiple shows at the same time. They say that’s the only way to ensure that writers are able to get paid fairly for their work.

Fans Are Watching Anxiously

Until time runs out shows like The Walking Dead will keep moving forward hoping that the strike won’t happen. Fans who are anxiously waiting for season 8 of The Walking Dead will be watching to see if the WGA and the AMPTP can come to terms in time to stop a strike.

Next: What a strike would mean for TWD

If they can’t, maybe Negan should bring Lucille to the negotiating table to try to convince both groups to settle their differences and not delay The