The Writers Guild of America West ratified the appointment of Ellen Stutzman as its top staffer and re-elected incumbent board members in the latest test of member support of the union’s leadership since the 2023 writers strike.
Member leaders Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Deric Hughes, Justin Halpern, Travis Donnelly and John Rogers — in short, all the incumbents who ran — were re-elected to their board seats in the 2024 election, results released on Tuesday revealed. New members Melinda Hsu, Chris Hazzard and Danny Tolli were also elected in the contest.
Union members additionally supported the board of directors’ appointment of Stutzman as the union’s executive director in November 2023 by a wide margin: 2,279 members, or nearly 97 percent, supported the decision, while 72, or about three percent, voted against it.
Appointed as the chief negotiator for the writers union just weeks before 2023’s contract negotiations began, as the union’s then-executive director suddenly went on medical leave, Stutzman led the guild’s members and negotiators through a grueling 148-day strike. Her reappointment, and the re-election of several board members who also led the union during the work stoppage, could be seen as a vote of confidence in the labor organization’s administration during that battle.
Still, turnout for the election was low: 2,408 of the union’s members cast eligible votes in the procedure, overseen by Votenet Solutions. In a U.S. Department of Labor filing covering the period between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, the union reported that it had 14,388 members.
The Writers Guild of America East held its own election for members leaders that ended earlier this month. In that contest, one film, television and streaming sector council member was re-elected while five new members were appointed. The vice president of the union’s online media division was re-elected and a new vice president of broadcast, cable and streaming news was ushered in after the last executive officer in the position chose not to run again.
The WGA West board of directors is led by president Meredith Stiehm, vice president Michele Mulroney and secretary-treasurer Betsy Thomas.