Michael Winship, running unopposed, has been re-elected president of the WGA East. Winship, who guided the guild through the 2007-2008 writers’ strike, said this would be his last two-year term as president. His running mates, VP Jeremy Pikser and Secretary-Treasurer Bob Schneider, also ran unopposed. Only about 10% of the guild’s 4,000 members voted for the nine open council seats, all but two of which were won by incumbents.
In his candidate statement, Winship trumpeted the guild’s successes in organizing reality TV shows, and noted that as the guild’s 2017 contract negotiations approach, “We will marshal our resources judiciously and work to solicit the opinions and address the concerns of our members as we prepare to go to the table once again with executives from an industry the operating profits of which have doubled in just the last decade to $47 billion.” He called the last strike “historic and successful.”
Elected as Freelance members on the council are Andrea Ciannavei and incumbents Henry Bean, Bonnie Datt, Susan Kim, Bill Scheft and Courtney Simon. Elected as Staff members are David Keller and incumbents Sue Brown McCann and Phil Pilato.
WGA West election results will be announced Monday.
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