The Strikes That Came Before - Part 1
How did Hollywood get here?
At the time of writing, the Writers Guild of America has been on strike for 126 days. SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) have been striking for fifty-two. By now, almost everybody is aware of the key issues facing the entertainment industry: the current system of residual payments in the peak streaming era is grossly unfair to the people making our favourite films and shows, and artificial intelligence looks poised to take jobs away from hard-working actors and writers. These strikes, however, are far from the first of their kind. Writers, actors, directors and workers from every corner of the entertainment industry have been taking part in labour disputes ever since pictures began to move. But what can the events of the last century teach us about what’s taking place in Hollywood today?
In this first part, I’ve put together a timeline of events from the last century. How exactly, did we get to the current picket lines?
A brief history of labour movements in Hollywood:
1924 - The AMPP (Association of Motion Pictures) forms.
1933 - SAG (The Screen Actors Guild) forms.
The formation of SAG was largely to combat unreasonable multi-year contracts forced on actors by Hollywood Studios. As a new form of technology grew, so did the need for a labour organisation.
1937 - AFRA (The American Federation of Radio Artists) forms.
1941 - The Disney Animators Strike
This 115 day strike, just three years after the formation of the Screen Cartoonist’s Guild, began when Walt Disney began laying off employees who had opted to join the guild after the Disney company itself had refused to sign an agreement with the SCG. Disney portrayed striking employees as circus clowns in the 1941 movie Dumbo (obviously not the most inappropriate caricature in that particular film), and strikers responded by decapitating a mannequin of Walt Disney on the picket line. While the strike eventually ended with a decent agreement for animators, Disney was left with a bitter attitude towards unions, even blaming communism for the striking employees actions.
1945 - The Set Decorators Strike
The dispute between the Conference of Studio Unions (CSU) and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) led to violent conflicts on October 5, 1945 when riots broke out outside Warner Bros.’ main gates. Now known as Hollywood Black Friday, that day saw non-striker’s cars overturned, tear gas dropped on those manning the picket lines and over 300 police on site.
1950 - The Television Authority forms.
1952 - The Television Authority merges with AFRA to create AFTRA (The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists)
SAG and AFTRA wouldn’t merge into a single guild until 2012, but from this point on the two unions would work in tandem often.
1954 - The Writers Guild of America (WGA) forms, bringing together The Authors Guild, The Dramatists Guild of America and The Screen Writers Guild.
Technically, the WGA is two guilds - WGA East and WGA West. While they’re run completely independently of each other, the two unions do often work together, especially when it comes to negotiating contracts and launching strike action.
1960 - The WGA goes on strike.
The WGA were in a dispute with the ATFP (The Alliance of Television Film Producers). The strike lasted 148 days, from January to June. The reason for the strike was a change in technology. Televisions were slowly becoming ubiquitous, and as every home got a set, movies were no longer restricted to the cinema. The WGA were looking for residuals for films screened on television - something so far lacking in their agreement with the ATFP
1960 - SAG goes on strike.
This strike, sixty-three years ago, marks the last time both the actors and writers unions were on strike at the same time. SAG, led at the time by guild president Ronald Reagan (yes, that one), were looking for the same thing as the WGA - residuals for films aired on television. Both unions eventually succeeded, although only for films made after 1960. Unlike the current SAG-AFTRA strike, in 1960 actors still performed promotional duties while striking, including appearing at the 33rd Academy Awards.
1964 - The AMPP merges with the ATFP to become The Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).
1972 - The WGA goes on strike.
Once again, a change in technology led to writers on the picket lines. This 111 day strike was caused by a need to establish rules over residuals for both cable/premium television and video cassettes. As with the 1960 strike, the WGA didn’t win retroactive coverage, meaning studios wouldn’t have to pay residuals for videos of films and television made pre-1972. The writers did, however, win a percentage of income derived from supplemental markets, and the agreement covered “all hardware, now or hereafter invented”.
1980 - SAG and AFTRA strike over residuals for supplemental markets.
1987 - The Directors Guild of America (DGA) goes on strike for three hours and five minutes. Possibly the most efficient strike in history.
1988 - The WGA goes on strike.
Once again, the WGA found itself in a dispute with the AMPTP over residuals, this time adjusting payments for hour-long shows. While the WGA was also looking for expanded creative rights for writers, the AMPTP was looking to implement cost-cutting measures.
This strike went on for 154 days, making it the longest in the WGA’s history, although it looks like they’ll be beating that record soon. The American television season usually runs from September through to the following May, and the length of the strike majorly delayed the beginning of the network television season. The season being delayed by external factors has only happened three times: this strike, the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the Covid-19 pandemic.
2000 - SAG and AFTRA vs. The American Association of Advertising Agencies.
This strike, caused by a dispute over residuals for Cable TV advertising, lasted 182 days, making it the longest in Hollywood’s history.
2007 - The WGA goes on strike.
Looking back over the strikes of the previous century, one thing becomes very clear. When how we can consume media changes, the people creating that media have to fight to have that work recognised fairly. It takes action. It did when films came to television, when video cassettes and premium television became commonplace, and when distribution went online. That last part - online distribution - was a key issue during the 2007 strike, and it’s a huge part of the strikes happening today. But for more on that, you’ll have to wait for part 2.