Looking at some of these responses, it's disheartening to see all the anti-union tropes again. Bootlickers gonna lick, I guess.
Even if a deal is struck, the members still have read and then vote on the contract. If it's a bad contract, then it's back to the line. The UPS deal was also behind closed doors, and it turned out great for us Teamsters. It's all about who you put into the leadership role and it seems like the union heads for the writers guild has their back.
It really sucks that it's become so commonplace for union leadership to hold closed door negotiations. Union members should be present and reporting back to fellow members on just what is on the table for the union as a collective to be on board with or fired up against.
I am so excited for the writers, but remember that for Hollywood to totally get back to work, SAG-AFTRA needs to end their strike too, and their demands are even more stringent than the writers. So there may still be a ways to go.
That said, the AMPTP knows that if these strikes don't end by October, they won't even have any shows for the spring.
Bill Maher and Drew Barrymore knew. They didn't mind going back to work if the negotiations stalled for a long time but when they discovered the strike was close to ending they realized it was stupid to take such a PR hit just to save a few days of shooting.