Students at Boston University will have to cross a Writers Guild picket line to attend their May 21 graduation ceremony, where Warner Bros. Discovery President & CEO David Zaslav, an alumnus of the school, will be making the commencement address.
The guild previously had warned the school that its members would picket there if he were allowed to speak, but BU officials decided to let him give his address anyway.
On Thursday, the guild said: “The Writers Guild of America will picket Warner Bros. Discovery President & CEO David Zaslav at Boston University’s All-Student Commencement Exercises at Nickerson Field on Sunday, May 21, 2023, beginning at 12:00 p.m. EDT.”
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The WGA launched its first strike in 15 years on May 2 after negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failed to reach a new agreement.
The talks broke off, WGA leaders say, because the AMPTP was unwilling to discuss many of its core issues, which include significant increases in compensation, minimum staffing, duration of employment, the establishment of viewer-based streaming residuals, and the use of artificial intelligence to create scripts.
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The AMPTP, however, has said that’s its contract offer was “generous,” and that it remains “committed to finding workable solutions to our ever-changing business for the mutual benefit of those who contribute to its success.”