"Dear current and former Onion Writers and Contributors,
First and foremost, thank you for signing on to the letter expressing your support for the staff writers at the Onion News Network. If you haven’t had a chance to sign yet, it’s not too late. The fact that we were able to deliver a letter with nearly 100 signatures from Onion contributors past and present sent a strong message to the company and meant a great deal to the writers.
We wanted to update everyone on the current situation and status of negotiations. As you already know, the staff writers on ONN asked the Writers Guild to help them negotiate a contract with the Onion at the beginning of the first five week writing period for the IFC tv show. While every other member of the cast and crew had been signed on a union contract (DGA, AFTRA, etc) the writers had not – and as a result were working without the promise of benefits or a sufficient term of employment. Moreover, the show was the only scripted live action television show now in production where the writers did not work under a WGA agreement.
Several weeks ago the WGA began informal conversations with the company about reaching a fair deal for these writers. At the time of this writing, however, the company had yet to offer a deal that the majority of the writers felt they could work under. This week, the majority of the writers on the show decided to turn down contracts to write on the show during the second writing period unless significant progress was made in negotiations. As we mentioned, conversations are on going and we are hopeful that an agreement will be reached in time for them to return to work. In the meantime, your support means more than ever. If you have not had a chance to add your name to the letter – please do so. If you have additional questions please feel free to ask.
We will keep you posted on the situation."
Come on Onion. Pay them right, give them benefits, and enough time to write the show. That's not asking too much.