WGA EAST -Members Ratifies New Contract with ABC News

On By Littum

Members of Writers Guild of America East have “overwhelming” ratified a new three-year deal with ABC News.

The guild proclaimed “huge financial winner” in the updated agreement as well as provisions regarding the use of artificial intelligence.

According to WGA East, ABC News has accepted not to dismiss any current employees and give at least three weeks of notice of the intention of implementing AI systems for written news. The parties agree to meet semi -annually to discuss AI as well.

Other contract information includes:

  • 3.5% salary increase per year for three years
  • Pay increase of over 17% for desk assistants in the first year of the contract
  • Another 1.5% in contributions to the Health Fund and 0.5% will be redirected from wages in the second and third years of the agreement for employees participating in the funds
  • Second -year temporary staff at WGA Health Fund are now eligible for paid parental leave, which starts in the second year of the contract
  • Further paid leisure, including for JunTEEENTH and a reduction in the number of days/hours that temporary staff must work to earn Comp Days
  • Introduced fees for desk assistants working as award editors, manufacturers or performing TV -UNDER
  • The company will give attribution to news writers who write materials for broadcast used on a platform not covered by the agreement (such as sites and streaming)

“We are extremely proud of our new contract, which we have won as a result of the resilience and solidarity shown by our colleagues WGA East members on ABC News. With their overwhelming support, we ensured an agreement that outlines groundbreaking protection against generative AI and makes significant improvements to all our benefits, ”the negotiating committee said in a statement on Tuesday.

ABC News is only one of several news sites whose workers are represented by WGA East. In its broadcast/cable/streaming news sector, the order also represents staff of 1010 wins, ABC News, Audacy (WCBS-AM, WBBM-AAM and KNX-AAM), CBS News, CBS News 24/7, FOX 5 WNYW -TV, MSNBC, NBC Promo Writers, Thirteen Productions (Thirteen / Wnet) and WBBM / CBS 2 NEWS.