The WGA strike is over. On Tuesday, Feb. 12, members of the Writers Guild of America voted overwhelmingly to put down their picket signs and go back to writing. According to a WGA press release, 3,775 writers cast ballots or faxed in proxies and 92.5 per cent voted to end the 100-day old walkout.

In the press release, WGA-West President Patric M. Verrone said, "This was not a strike we wanted, but one we had to conduct in order to win jurisdiction and establish appropriate residuals for writing in new media and on the Internet."

In a statement posted on its website yesterday, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers stated, "We hope now to focus our collective efforts on what this industry does best -writers, directors, actors, production crews, and entertainment companies working together to deliver great content to our worldwide audiences."

The next vote by the guild membership will be to decide whether to ratify the tentative three-year contract hammered out by WGA leaders and representatives of the AMPTP. Ballots will be sent out by mail and members will be able to vote at guild meetings set for Feb. 25, 2008.

The strike has been a real roller coast ride with many highs and lows. Despite the recent breakthrough in negotiations that resulted in the tentative agreement many folks remain cautious. "They've been silent not saying much." That is how cashier Gabbie Hansen described the out-of-work entertainment employees who buy their groceries at Handy Market in Burbank. I was in there shopping on Tuesday night.

Hansen says the grocery part of the business has not changed much in the past few months, however the market's catering service has laid-off workers due to the writers' strike. Handy Market's catering service handles mostly studio and production clients.

While I was standing in the line at the cash register a customer chimed in that her North Hollywood food additives company has had its business slashed 20 per cent by the walkout. However, this customer was optimistic that things would soon be back to normal.

That optimism will most likely spread as WGA writers pick up their pencils or sit down at the computer keyboards and start churning out scripts once again. To that I say, "Hip, hip, hooray!