Candidate for Secretary-Treasurer
I’m Sasha Stewart and I’m running for Secretary Treasurer. This is a Guild-wide position, where I look forward to representing members across all sectors.
Guild Service
What started as me showing up to a few events to meet folks and get free food way back in the day has led to 4 years of service on council, getting 20-30,000 steps in every day for almost six months during the strike, and so much more. Why? Because I love the Guild. I am so grateful to all the writers who helped us get where we are today. So, I consider it my honor and privilege to be able to help the union now.
In addition to serving on council, I co-chair the Committee for Inclusion and Equity with Geri Cole, the Women’s Salon with Kerry Coddett, the WGA/PGA Climate Storytelling Working Group with Michele Remsen (and now Rasheda Crockett), and am a Guild Captain. I’m also on a number of Council-specific committees, including the Organizing Committee.
At a time when things are so difficult in our world, our country, and our industries (a literal triple-threat), I remain so, so proud of our Guild. We continue to use our power, strength, and solidarity to fight for our members and the broader labor movement. As Secretary Treasurer, I am dedicated to continuing that ever-worthy struggle.
Backstory
Apologies for folks who have heard this before, but for newer members, Hi!! In 2014, I joined the Guild. When my first Guild-covered show was canceled in 2016, I went from a well-paying late-night job to long stretches of unemployment interspersed with streaming gigs that, while emotionally fulfilling, paid less than half or even a quarter of what I made in cable TV. When I broke into scripted comedy with Dying for Sex, I thought I had found a path to steady work. But of course, that’s when the contraction hit. I feel incredibly lucky to have worked on such a rewarding and meaningful project, and yet I’m still an emotional wreck desperate to keep my insurance (I’ve already had cancer and have two bum kidneys, I can’t afford to lose another!). I am well-versed in our Guild’s unemployment resources and the wonderful New York COBRA Premium Assistance Program for Entertainment Industry Employees not just because I need to share that information with members, but because I need that help, too.
The Next Two Years
Right now, things are so hard. It feels impossible to get work. This contraction is hitting all of our sectors – we’re seeing private equity gut once-healthy online media shops. We’re seeing mergers and Wall Street demands lead to a nearly 40% drop in TV writing jobs. We’re seeing both of those factors lead to cuts to broadcast news. Across the board, we’re seeing threats to free speech, the threat of AI, and an administration that is as hostile to unions as you can get. It’s BAD. With things this tough, we may not make the same kind of huge gains we made in the past two years, but it’s even more important that we stand together to protect each other and all workers.
Over this next term, I will take on the duties of Secretary Treasurer, which include updating Council on the Guild’s financial health, chairing the finance committee, and a lot of admin tasks (yay! But also, important!). Now, I want to take a moment to thank Chris Kyle for his many years of service as Secretary Treasurer. He did a fantastic job and is leaving big shoes to fill (and not just because I am 5’0” tall so all shoes are pretty big in comparison).
More generally, as a part of Council, here are a few areas I’ll be focused on:
MBA Negotiations – We have (yet another!) big negotiation coming up next year. Success in this landscape will be challenging, but if anyone can do it – it’s us. As an officer attending negotiations, I will represent all MBA-covered FTS members (including comedy/variety and appendix A writers, feature writers, and scripted TV writers!) to ensure our voices are heard.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Across every sector, we’re seeing challenges to the gains we’ve made in DEI the past several years. This means we need to push back when companies try to break or negotiate away the DEI provisions in our existing CBAs. We need to stand together when the studios abandon their DEI pledges and begin censoring writers. We also need community, which is why Geri and I (along with our wonderful staff) started the “Writing a Better Future” series of programming with the Committee for Inclusion and Equity, focusing on the subjects that this administration (and many of our bosses) don’t want us writing about, like immigration and reproductive freedom. We know that writers help shape culture, and so it’s more vital than ever that we continue telling our stories, so that people don’t feel isolated or alone.
Organizing Across the All Sectors – Despite this harsh landscape, we’ve had wins! We secured coverage for animation writers at Sesame Street and PBS (for the first time!). We’ve also been creative in how we win, from organizing individual shops to negotiating expanded coverage within contracts. We will need to keep being creative and strategic as we move forward, especially as we venture into new areas where our members (and future members) do not have union protection. These are valuable fights that will help our members across all sectors.
Fighting Censorship, Pushing Back on Funding Cuts, and Protecting the Labor Movement – Our members are already hurting so much from this administration, and we’re not even a year in. Despite the horror show that is our world right now, I’m proud of how our Guild has responded and continues to respond to the attacks on our members, including our writers at PBS and PBS Kids, The Late Show, and at CBS News. It’s going to get even harder, but with courage, conviction, and solidarity, we will persevere.
My Record
I’m proud to have been endorsed by our outgoing President, FTS Vice President, Broadcast Vice President, Online Media Vice President, and Secretary/Treasurer. And, even with this contraction, I’m proud of what we accomplished in my second term:
- We won the strike! I know things have been so hard with the double whammy of strikes and industry-wide contraction, but it is worth reiterating how incredible it is that we – all of us together – won our strike, securing gains for everyone all our MBA-covered members: feature writers, appendix A writers, and scripted TV writers.
- We continue to implement our organizing plan, which has meant podcast, nonfiction, and broadcast shops we organized in my first term secured contracts during my second term— like Crooked Media, BSTV, and CBS News Digital. We also welcomed new nonfiction shops like Lucky 8 and ITV, which are working hard to gain their first contract.
- We stood with Vox workers as they secured their latest contract, which (finally!) includes PopSugar, The Dodo and Thrillist.
- We stood with our members at Sesame Street and PBS as they secured historic, first-ever WGAE coverage for children’s animation writers. Truly, getting to sit in on these negotiations was an honor and privilege. The solidarity these writers showed for each other, standing together and winning the day, was so inspiring.
- One of my favorite things to do as a council member is room visits: meeting with members at work, seeing how the contract is (and isn’t) working for you, and figuring out how we can make your lives better. I get to learn more about the industry, and, best of all, I get to meet so many wonderful members!
I am so honored to be able to continue to fight for you for another two years.
In Solidarity,
Sasha Stewart
Responses to Candidate Questions
1. What do you think is the most pressing issue facing the Guild and what steps will you take to address it?
The most pressing issue facing the Guild is the one facing our entire country: authoritarianism and the anti-democratic movement. Our members are already feeling its effects keenly – in Film Television and Streaming, hard-won fights at PBS are being ripped out from underneath us due to drastic federal funding cuts, anti-free speech tactics and censorship are seemingly at play in the 60 Minutes settlement and cancellation of The Late Show, and the hostility to and dismantling of DEI initiatives (and DEI advancement in any form) is hurting us all.
In Broadcast, CBS News is just starting to face the fallout of the Paramount deal and the policing of journalism. In Online Media, journalists are being threatened and shops are being gutted.
Now, despite being a small union facing a huge challenge, I’m we’re fighting back. Our joint open letter with the WGAW let it be known that we as a union stand up for free speech and for our writers. The Solidarity Signal is a great way members have connected to each other to take action against authoritarianism and to promote free speech. Through our Comms team and the captains network, members called their congressmembers hundreds if not thousands of times telling them to preserve public media funding. Just because we didn’t win, doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth it. These are fights for the long haul. It’s important we take a stand now even if and when we lose. I will continue these fights in my next term on council as Secretary Treasurer.
Now, on top of this existential threat, we’re also facing the very immediate and ongoing issue of the multiple-industry-wide contraction. Our members are feeling this painfully each and every day. I am, too! Unfortunately, the Guild cannot stop the financialization of our industries that is driving so much of this pain. What the Guild can do is provide support, resources, and community during this challenging time. I will focus on continuing those efforts over my next term.
2. WGAE is divided into three sectors: Film, Television, and Streaming; Broadcast, Cable, and Streaming News, and; Online Media. How will you work with and represent all Guild members, including those outside of your own work sector?
I feel so fortunate to have been on Council the past four years, which has helped me better understand each sector (even my own of FTS!). I truly feel we are strongest when we work together and help each other – we can all learn from each other’s contracts, from our wins (and struggles), and from each other as writers. I will continue to show up for members across sectors by speaking at bargaining sessions, organizing events that include all types of members (like the Committee for Inclusion and Equity’s recent immigration storytelling event), and promoting equal growth across all sectors as a member of the Organizing Committee.
3. What qualities or characteristics do you look for in a Guild leader?
I look for someone who is willing to take the extra time to help a member who needs help, and steps up when the Guild needs them. I look for someone who listens, builds consensus, and understands we’re all on the same team. They don’t always have to agree with their fellow members or councilmembers on everything, but can respect each other’s opinions, experience, and agree to disagree. They are kind and considerate of others. They think of creative solutions to difficult problems and appreciate advice from experts. They put members first, while staying connected to the larger labor movement and looking for areas of collaboration across unions.
4. What do you think WGAE’s role should be in the broader labor movement?
As writers, we create narratives. As a small but newsworthy union, we help shape narratives. By utilizing both of those skills, we have the ongoing opportunity to be a powerful player in the broader labor movement. We demonstrated that during the 2023 strike, and we can further this role by showing up for our fellow unions, being a part of the AFL-CIO, and participating in broad labor actions for the next two years and beyond.
Endorsements
Sofia Alvarez, Johnathan Appel, Dominic Colon, Nicole Conlan, Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, Sara David, Alyssa DiMari, Glenn Eichler, Jo Firestone, Kaitlin Fontana, Tom Fontana, Elizabeth Godvik, Joshua Gondelman, Tian Jun Gu, Dylan Guerra, Hallie Haglund, Liz Hynes, Amy Jackson, Dru Johnston, Hillary Jordan, Barry Julien, Michael Kayne, Matthew Klinman, Christopher Kyle, Michael Mitnick, Nitish Pahwa, Taylor Phillips, Michael Pielocik, CQ Quintana, Michael Rauch, Andrew Rheingold, Sharyn Rothstein, Erica Saleh, Lanee’ Sanders, Katherine Sidley, Brian Stack, John Thibodeaux, Jill Twiss, Kate Villa, Suzanne Weber, Alison Zeidman, Moujan Zolfaghari
Endorse Sasha Stewart for Secretary-Treasurer
Note: WGAW members who wish to endorse a candidate may follow the process outlined in section G.1.B of the 2025 Election Policy.
