Writers strike looms after vote to shut down film, TV

Writers for television, movies and streaming shows have voted overwhelmingly to go on strike if no labor deal can be reached before a May 1 deadline.

The vote announced Monday afternoon showed 97.9% of participating union members voting to approve a potential strike.

If a strike happens, it would be the first in the industry since 2007, and it would bring production on many shows and films to a halt. The 2007 strike lasted 100 days.

“The studios need to respond to the crisis writers face,” Writers Guild of America leadership said in a message to members ahead of the vote. “WGA members must demonstrate our willingness to fight for the contract writers need and deserve by supporting a strike authorization vote.”

The two sides have met a few times since negotiations began March 20. The WGA is calling for additional compensation and residuals from features in theaters or on streaming platforms, an end to the abuse of “mini-rooms” (smaller number of writers in the room) and increasing contributions to pension and health funds.

Studios and streamers say the entertainment industry has changed in recent years and writers need to make concessions.

IRS reports shorter waits on taxpayer phone lines

Taxpayers who called the IRS had an average wait time of four minutes this tax season, compared with 27 minutes a year earlier, the agency said Monday.

Ahead of the tax filing deadline today for many across the United States, the IRS is promoting its improved customer service and giving credit to a big boost in funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act that Democrats pushed through Congress last year.

The federal tax collector on Monday reported a dramatic turnaround for the 2023 tax season from a year ago, when the agency scored its worst customer service marks on record.

IRS employees this tax season have answered 2 million more calls and served 100,000 more taxpayers in person, the agency reported. It also digitized 80 times more paper forms than in 2022 and cleared the backlog of unprocessed 2022 individual tax returns.

New IRS Commissioner Daniel Werfel, sworn in this month, promised to use the new $80 billion infusion of cash over the next 10 years to help the federal tax collector become faster and more tech-savvy and provide “real-world improvements” to taxpayers.

California’s tax filing deadline has been extended automatically to Oct. 16 for all but three Northern California counties.

Markets rise as earnings season gets underway

Wall Street drifted higher Monday to kick off the first full week of earnings reporting season.

The S&P 500 rose 13.68, or 0.3%, to 4,151.32 in its first trading after squeezing out its fourth winning week in the past five. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 100.71, or 0.3%, to 33,987.18, while the Nasdaq composite climbed 34.26, or 0.3%, to 12,157.72.

Charles Schwab reported better profit than expected, and its stock rose 3.9%. It flipped from an earlier loss after it said deposits fell more last quarter than expected. It also paused a stock buyback program.

M&T Bank jumped 7.8% for the biggest gain in the S&P 500 after it reported stronger profit and revenue than expected.

State Street dropped 9.2% after reporting slightly weaker profit and revenue than forecast.

One of the biggest gains on Wall Street came from Prometheus Biosciences. It soared 69.7% after the biotechnology company announced over the weekend that it was being acquired by Merck for $200 per share, or about $10.8 billion. Merck slipped 0.3%.

In the bond market, the 10-year Treasury yield rose to 3.59% from 3.52% late Friday. The two-year yield climbed to 4.19% from 4.10%.

Compiled from CNN and Associated Press reports.