Following a meeting of its Eastern regional leadership last week in New York City, a spokesman for the Writer's Guild of America (WGA) told Playbill On-Line that the executive boards of WGA East and West will meet in Los Angeles on Sept. 18 to discuss the union's fundamental contract with producers, the Minimum Basic Agreement.

The current MBA deal between WGA and producers expires on June 30, 2001.

At the WGA meeting last week, much of the discussion centered on the SAG/AFTRA commercial strike, which is now on record as the longest strike action in SAG's history. The writers' concern over the SAG strike is an indication of how closely the labor action is being watched by both creators and producers in the entertainment industry.

Another source indicated that studio producers have reported being openly briefed to be "prepared and ready for a long strike." Unconfirmed reports indicate that producers may be stockpiling material in anticipation of a writers' strike that could last "up to six months."

-- By Murdoch McBride