Dear Michael Winship, dear Patric Verrone,
Congratulations on your victory in the strike against your employers.
We understand, of course, that the agreement still has to be formally approved by the members of the WGA, east and west, but what is proposed seems to us a very important agreement, an agreement that promotes a future in which the Internet becomes the primary means for content creation and delivery for American and also indirectly for European screenwriters. Therefore, I would like to thank you again for your groundbreaking work on behalf of all screenwriters of our 22 member guilds all over Europe.
The principle of „When they get paid, we get paid.“ will define our negotiations and will help us to influence European legislation and collective agreements.
We would also like to thank you for your solidarity regarding the campaign „Kein Drehbuch. Kein Film“ at the Berlin Film Festival which we are now planning on a bigger scale at European level.
Last but not least let me stress that your strike had one enormous positive side effect: It brought screenwriters into the news worldwide. We would like to thank you and your members for your courage and determination and we intend to build on the solidarity between us in order to maintain leverage against the consolidated multinational conglomerates with whom we are also bargaining, even if our bargaining so often has to go through politicians, governments and the European Commission.
Let us indeed continue to use this new collective power at an international level. Such solidarity has never before occurred and we should use the new bonds between our members to further encourage mutual backing of our guilds worldwide. In this new digital and global world we are all in this together.
Best,
Christina Kallas
President
Federation of Screenwriters
(Gestern von der Präsidentin der Federation of Scriptwriters in Europe, FSE, an die Präsidenten der WGA West und East gesandtes Grußwort zum siegreichen Ende des Streiks.)
