IFJ Backs United States Film and Television Writers Strike – “A struggle in which All Creators Have a Stake”

In a letter addressed to the Presidents of Writers' Guild of America (WGA), East and West, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed its strong support for the nationwide strike against United States studios and networks that make up the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

The strike follows a denial from AMPTP to negotiate with WGA a fair share of its revenues derived from new media exploitation of TV and film content.

“Our self-employed journalists are wrestling with very similar problems in terms of giant corporations, where sometimes divisions of the same company are trying to re-use their work on new digital platforms without additional payments,” said IFJ General Secretary Aidan White.

“Your struggle is one we share and in which all creators have a stake. We have to win these fights to preserve the rights and the voices of individual creators and/or reporters in the face of globalisation of the entertainment and communications industries,” he said.

The IFJ is calling on all of its unions to support the writers’ strike in the US and to ensure that there is no action in any of their countries to supply material that might be used by network owners in the US to circumvent the impact of the work stoppage.

For more information contact the IFJ at 32 2 235 2207
The IFJ represents over 600,000 journalists in 120 countries worldwide