The Writers Guild of America have voted in favour of strike action ahead of negotiations for a new contract. With the current contract set to expire on May 1st, it can be safe to assume that if an agreement isn't reached in that time, then the strike will go ahead. This might all work out well in the end, however, if it doesn't, then there will be delays to a number of shows, including Star Trek: Discovery. A number of the writing crew voiced their support for a yes vote in strike action, which you can see below.

So, this could mean with Star Trek: Discovery writers voting in favour, that we see more woes put onto the show. With no expected release date already, the future is becoming increasingly uncertain. It could also mean we might not see Discovery until 2018, or it might just get binned if delays keep coming, although that option is less likely due to all of the background work and money invested already at this point.

In the trekmovie.com coverage of the story, they mention that the 1988 strike by the WGA affected Star Trek: The Next Generation, which resulted in the series being 4 episodes shorter than expected. Additionally, it used an old script from the scrapped Star Trek: Phase II series. There is a fan made series of Phase II, if you are interested in looking that up, I can't say I have seen it personally to judge.

Additionally, the animated series is mentioned, not affected by the 1973 strike, instead benefiting from it by attracting skilled writers to work on the project. Finally, the strike in 2007 caused problems with the script of the reboot films by JJ Abrams, with changes not being able to be made. So far Star Trek, it's been a bit of a mixed bag, with one out of three series coming out better off from the strike.

But, delays will only happen if the strike actually goes ahead, according to vox.com, there isn't a high chance that it will actually go ahead, stating that "The AMPTP is largely acting as if it expects no interruption in production schedules.", so for the most part, business as usual. The threat of a strike may have an effect on negotiations, as also stated in the mentioned article, "there’s just too much money at stake for the producers for a strike to proceed.", no one is going to want to see the strike go ahead.

It could all be chest thumping and in the end, everything stays on track, that's what we should hope for! Discovery doesn't need anymore delays.

WRITTEN & EDITED BY Three of Seven - rena.hobden@ufplanets.com