If the guild, which represents those who write for TV and film, can't reach a new contract or agree to extend the negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, the writers will go out on strike for the first time in almost a decade.
"Your Negotiating Committee is pleased to report that we have reached a tentative agreement with the AMPTP that we can recommend for ratification", the WGA told members in an early Tuesday memo.
The last time the WGA waged a strike was in 2007, with a work stoppage that lasted 100 days and brought much of the Hollywood industry to a halt.
The shorter seasons of eight to 12 episodes translate into less pay for writers, who are paid on a per-episode basis.
First word of a deal emerged shortly after midnight, but no official announcement came until after 1 a.m.
The current "Minimum Basic Agreement", the standard entry contract for all WGA affiliated writers, expired at the turn of midnight, and the union's balloted members had voted by 96% in favour of strike action.
During the last writers' strike, the amount of time people spent on alternatives to network TV grew, according to a recent research note from Barclays.
The WGA negotiating committee released a statement about the new deal that met numerous demands made by writers including secured paid parental leave for its members for the first time as well as new salary guidelines and additional support for the union's health plan. Take it from David Simon, who told Variety: "The construct of the contract has for too always been lodged in the 22-episode, September-to-May framework", adding, "Two weeks of work on an episode has stretched into four to six weeks".
It's worth pointing out that the first time a writer's strike took place in the U.S., it gave birth to reality television as we know it - Cops, for example, was born out of necessity. Any work beyond that span would result in additional payments.
The guild also touted first-time job protection for writers on parental leave.
I'm overjoyed that not only was a strike averted, but that the WGA largely got what they wanted.
After weeks of tense negotiations, the WGA has prevailed, securing better conditions for writers working in Hollywood and avoiding a strike that would put good writers out of business and likely ruin at least one season of television.
How do you feel about the deal reached by the WGA and AMPTP? TV networks broadcast re-runs and more reality shows, while the cost to the California economy was estimated at US$2.1 billion (RM9 billion), according to the Milken Institute.