The Writers Guild introduced new demands on Friday that could prolong the three-month strike even longer.

The demands include a point that the companies agree to “a health care benefit extension” that would give striking writers more time to qualify for the health coverage that many face losing because of a lack of earnings during the work-stoppage....

Under the old contract, writers had to earn at least $41,773 a year to qualify for health care coverage. But with three-months – and counting – of earnings already lost because of the strike, writers will have less time to attain that earnings threshold once the strike is over.

According to a statement released by the guild last night, Ellen Stutzman, the WGA’s chief negotiator, “made clear” to the AMPTP that “in addition to a comprehensive response from the AMPTP on our proposals in all work areas, we will need to address issues arising from the strike, including a health care benefit extension” and “additional” funding to the guild’s Pension & Health Fund.

1 writer per episode up to 6 episodes, then 1 additional writer required for each 2 episodes after 6 up to a max. of 12 writers

Minimum staff guaranteed at least 10 consecutive weeks of work...

Writers on staff must get at least 3 weeks per episode (up to a max. of 52 weeks).

Median weekly writer-producer pay has declined 4% over the last decade. Adjusting for inflation, the decline is 23%.In addition to falling weekly pay, most writers on streaming shows are earning less per season because of shorter work periods. As the chart below shows, the new “typical” employment for lower- and mid-level writers on a streaming series is 20-24 weeks, or only 14 weeks if the room is convened without a series order (ie, a pre-greenlight room). Showrunners, on the other hand, are working almost the same number of weeks in streaming as they do in broadcast, reflecting the true length of time these series take to complete. More than 40% of showrunners working on streaming series reported working for over 52 weeks on their most recent season.

During the heady days of near exclusive broadcast television, a TV writer would be hired to write 20 – 24 episodes per season and therefore be consistently employed for up to ten months a year in a writers’ room with a consistent weekly pay check. Streamers are increasingly favoring “limited series” which comprise 6 – 10 episodes, so pay checks are organically shrinking in size and frequency. Some TV writers may only be paid for a few months a year and expected to survive on that for the whole year.

TV writers on a streaming series theoretically work for 24 weeks on a 10 episode series according to the 2.4 weeks per episode rule. This number is reduced to 14 weeks if there is a mini-room or if the showrunners start working on a series before it’s formally greenlit – the insidious pre-greenlit room which doesn’t actually guarantee a season order. Writers in such pre-greenlit mini-rooms are often paid at scale. Moreover, studios egregiously argue that fewer writers are subsequently required in the writers’ room after a series order since a substantial amount of work has already been completed.