The WGA West and WGA East jointly negotiate their master contract with producers, a three-year deal which will expire on May 1, 2017.
The changes do not impact the WGA East, which has 4,000 members and is based in New York.
The goal was to synch up the WGA’s negotiations cycle with the elections cycle.
WGA West President Howard Rodman said in the notice to members that the changes were aimed at making the election process “more compatible with the actual work of union governance.”