The Writers’ Guild of America (WGA) President Meredith Stiehm criticizes pay hikes and urges Netflix and Comcast shareholders to reject the pay packages for the companies’ top executives. The reason for this vote against pay proposals deems inappropriate in light of the ongoing WGA writers’ strike. Netflix’s shareholder meeting is scheduled for Thursday while Comcast will host its meeting on June 7, 2023.
The WGA strike began on May 2 after their negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reached an impasse. Netflix, Comcast and other streaming companies are represented by the AMPTP. The Guild’s issues underscoring the strike include minimum staffing, duration of employment, increase in compensation, and curbing the inclusion of artificial intelligence to create scripts.
WGA President Criticizes Netflix Comcast Pay Hikes
In a letter to Netflix’s shareholders, Stiehm addressed the concerns of the WGA executive pay hikes strike and how investors have had issues with Netflix’s executive pay.
“The compensation structure is more egregious against the backdrop of the WGA strike.”
She further added that Netflix was beguiling its shareholders to give retroactive advisory approval of its reported executive compensation, which totaled $166 million at the posterior of disruptive labor disputes. But in contrast, WGA’s proposed improvements would cost Netflix an estimated $68 million per year.
WGA urged shareholders to vote against the pay proposals and encourage Netflix to help in calling a ceasefire to the disruptive strike.
On a parallel paradigm, Stiehm addressed a letter to Comcast shareholders. She stated that the company was asking shareholders to approve the executive compensation totaling over $130 million as opposed to WGA’s proposal pay package costing Comcast over an estimated $34 million per year.
Stiehm further stated that the writers’ strike and fuel from other Hollywood unions had impacted the production of numerous Netflix series such as Stranger Things and Cobra Kai and NBCUniversal series including Law & Order and Dick Wolf’s Chicago franchise. Until the WGA negotiations concluded, Netflix’s and Comcast’s content pipeline was bound to be blocked.
“Netflix’s latest rollout of advertising-supported subscription tiers and the crackdown on password sharing in the US is concerning given the disruption of content creation.”
WGA’s President Stiehm criticized the pay hikes because the delay in releasing new content would only glissade Netflix’s ability to attract or retain viewers, right after the entertainment giant asked its subscriber base to pay more for its content. And Comcast’s broadcast lineup relies heavily on new episodes day after day to populate its platform.
In the face of an unprecedented decline in fair compensation, the writers have demanded to be paid fairly for working and creating tremendous value for profiting the streaming media companies.
