Writers Guild East Rejects Contract Plan

Members of the eastern faction of the Writers Guild of America rejected a proposed three-year contract with film and television producers that was ratified last week by their counterparts in the West. In a statement, officials with the group said that the negative vote was partly a protest of the guild’s “fast-track” negotiating process, or procedures in which the labor leaders negotiate with producers well in advance of contract expirations. The new contract was negotiated in July even though the existing deal doesn’t expire until next May. Leaders of the West’s faction will meet next week to decide what to do.