Despite reports deal is done, there will be no end to the job action until guild leaders meet with members on Saturday and gauge chances of ratification

By Alex Ben Block

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) – 2/5/2008 – There will be no settlement in the on-going writers strike until at least early next week, as the WGA leadership will wait to make its recommendation on a new contract until there after membership meetings scheduled for Saturday in Los Angeles and New York.

The Los Angeles event will take place Saturday evening at the cavernous Shrine Auditorium in downtown, which holds some 4,000 people. There have been rumors since this past Friday that the deal is done in broad strokes but the WGA leaders have cautioned that nothing is done until final language is approved. Until then the writers continue to picket at various locations on both coasts.

At the meetings, guild leaders are expected to lay out the terms of the proposed new deal and seek reaction from guild members. Based on that reaction, they will decide when and if to seek a vote to ratify a new agreement. The presentation is expected to be made by the same three who negotiated behind the scenes over the past two weeks – WGA West President Patric Verrone, negotiating committee head John Bowman and chief negotiator David Young.

In theory, if there is an outcry over the terms, the strike could continue; although it is hard to image that weeks or months more on strike will make a huge difference in what kind of deal they can expect to get.

There has been great solidarity within the guild until now, but that could change if this strike doesn’t end within the next week or so. There have been reports that some show runners and others anxious to return to their jobs may break ranks if a deal isn’t done; but that has all stayed under the surface so far.

In New York City, WGA East President Michael Winship is expected to make the presentation to guild members. The location of that meeting had not been set as of mid-day Tuesday.

In the past, once the guild leadership, negotiating committee and board recommends the deal to members, the strike effort is ended. That can occur even before there is a final vote by the entire membership.

UPDATE – The Writers Guild of America East will hold its membership meeting in New York City on Saturday (2/9) beginning at 2 p.m. at the Crowe Plaza Times Square Manhattan Hotel. That same evening the guild also holds its annual awards show at the Hudson Theater in midtown.