Candidate for Council, Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News Sector
Fellow News Writers:
My name is Phil Pilato and I’m running for re-election to the WGAE Council representing Broadcast, Cable and Streaming News at the WGAE.
News members face real dangers right now.
The man in the White House has labeled us “the enemy of the people” and another man has gutted CBS news and plans to do the same to CNN if he is allowed to merge Paramount with Warner Brothers.
We are not “the enemy of the people” – we are Journalists – we work long, hard hours to get stories right. We’re professionals and deserve decent pay and benefits.
President Trump puts down journalists whenever he can – because he knows we’re the ones who will not stop until we get at the truth.
And David Ellison wants to please Trump so he can create his mega company – and if that means destroying legacy news networks – he’ll do that – not to mention reducing jobs for film and tv writers.
That’s why I support our fight against the merger of Paramount-Skydance and Warner Brothers studios.
I believe it’s the most important fight the Guild has been involved in in the last 4 decades.
We also need to fight back against the problems Ellison and Bari Weiss have created for our members at CBS.
Our Council must speak with a strong voice for every member of the Writers Guild East.
We still need to fight for changes in labor enforcement, net neutrality, and health care – so we don’t lose what we’ve already achieved and that’s what I will continue to do as your Council member.
I care deeply for working writers and have always fought hard to get what writers deserve – not just for my benefit – but for the benefit of all writers – and that’s what I do as a Council member
I’ve been a member of the WGAE for over 40 years, a shop steward for 20 years and I was on the WGAE Council for nearly 14 years. I’ve been nominated for four WGAE writing awards and received the Jablow award for service to the WGAE.
I’ve negotiated many contracts in my years as a shop steward – fighting hard to get the best deal for my fellow workers and I’ll fight just as hard on the Council to make sure all News Members are treated as equally as Entertainment and Digital writers.
As a council member, I worked on committees to better the Guild and our News Members. As a member of the Organizing Committee, I’ve worked on getting writers in non-union news shops to fight for their right to be represented by the Writers Guild. As a member of the Diversity Committee, I worked on ways to make the WGAE more inclusive, encouraging more women, BIPOC, and LBGTQ+ writers to become active union members. As the co-chair of the News Committee, I worked to get programs added to the Guild that would help our members in their careers.
That’s why I’m running for re-election to the Council of the WGAE representing Broadcast, Cable and Streaming News at the WGAE.
I also have worked very well with the other sectors and have been endorsed by both news and entertainment writers.
I will fight with everything I know to get working News Writers fair pay, good benefits and help from the Union that cares for them.
Endorsements
Adam Brooks, Nicole Conlan, Bonnie Datt, Elizabeth Godvik, Carin Greenberg, Susan Kim, Gail Lee, Allan Neuwirth, Celine Robinson
Endorse Phil Pilato for Council, Broadcast/Cable/Streaming News Sector
Note: WGAW members who wish to endorse a candidate may follow the process outlined in section G.1.B of the 2026 Election Policy.
