Can labor shut down Hollywood?

By Workers Strike Back. Published May 18, 2023

The national writers strike has entered its third week. Dozens of major films and TV shows have stopped production.

Hollywood has become a dramatic example of huge profits being siphoned off at the top, while all the creativity and labor of those who make the industry run are taken in trade for subsistence wages. The television industry alone made over $222 billion in 2022. The CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery was paid $246.7 million in 2021, enough to pay for nearly 60 percent of what writers are demanding. 

Writers are demanding an annual wage increase of 5-6 percent, an end to short-staffed writers rooms, and an end to the second-tier conditions for writers at streaming companies like Netflix.

Studio executives and production companies have been driving down standards for writers for decades. Median pay for writers has gone down by 14 percent in the last 5 years, and 23 percent in the last decade, accounting for inflation.

Why? As Adam Conover, WGA bargaining team member and host of Adam Ruins Everything, said on Tuesday:

“Because they want to keep the money….to pay people as little as possible…Companies across the country are trying to do that right now. Everyone is feeling that. Everyone is employed, but nobody’s job pays enough to live on. That’s happening in our industry as well, because they want to keep the money for themselves, and we’re pushing back on them and saying no. We make the f***ing product, you gotta give us the money.”

One example of how studio executives have driven down wages is by eliminating “producer fees” which the WGA contract guarantees for writers who work during a show’s production process. Big studios have completely restructured the screenwriting process over the years to get away with not paying these fees. Today, nearly half of writers make only the bare minimum rates.

Studio executives are also systematically eliminating the 13-week contract that is typical for writers. As Conover says, the “best offer” of streamers like Netflix “is that they want to pay us a day rate. They want to hire us one day and fire us the next day.”

“We are fighting for the survival of our profession. Period. That’s really not overstating it. The companies are trying to turn this into gig work.”

– Adam Conover, WGA bargaining committee member

Winning the strike

The writers’ demands would cost TV & film bosses only $429 million per year–a drop in the bucket, considering the industry’s massive profits. 

The WGA’s demands are modest–in fact, a little too modest. 5 percent annual raises will not even keep up with inflation. But the bosses won’t give even an inch unless they are forced to.

According to the Writers Guild of America (WGA), the strike already is costing Hollywood bosses as much as $30 million per day. Major productions have been shut down, including Netflix’s Stranger Things, Apple TV’s Severance, and most of the Late Night shows.

But other films and shows have continued production despite the strike. Amazon’s Rings of Power has continued production. So has Season 2 of HBO’s House of the Dragon. Nearly all AMC shows, including spinoffs of The Walking Dead, have reportedly continued despite the strike.

One high profile show, Jeopardy!, was initially shut down when host Mayim Bialik walked out in solidarity with striking writers. But co-host Ken Jennings chose to cross the picket line to help the studio resume production. (“Scabs for $1000,” Ken!)

We need a plan to escalate this strike and win a strong victory for writers, as quickly as possible. To win, the labor movement needs to make this strike as painful as possible for the studio bosses. This means aiming to bleed their profits dry.

We need a coordinated plan to shut down the entire TV & film industry. A first step would be to call mass rallies of WGA members and community supporters to target shows like Jeopardy! or companies like AMC which have continued filming, with the aim of shutting down production and keeping it shut. The WGA could call for a National Day of Action in solidarity with the strike, with well-publicized actions in every major city.

To be successful, this needs to be coordinated across unions and across the entire labor movement.

Many Teamsters and IATSE members have already demonstrated strong solidarity by refusing to cross the picket line. We need militant tactics, mobilizing the wider community to cause major disruption to the studios’ production process. Some WGA picket captains have started reporting in real time where they need reinforcements. Coordinated boycotts and “unsubscribe campaigns” could also play a role, but shutting down production is by far our most important weapon.

Performers unionized with SAG-AFTRA will be taking a strike authorization vote soon to prepare for negotiating their own contract, which expires June 30. SAG-AFTRA should not wait until their contract expires to go on strike. They should maximize their power and go on strike now, joining the writers in a unified action that could truly shut down Hollywood. This strike would be illegal, but so was the strike of West Virginia teachers in 2018, who shut down the state and won. The American labor movement was itself built on illegal labor actions and militant rank-and-file organizing. SAG-AFTRA and the WGA would have to agree that no one goes back to work until both unions win a new contract. SAG-AFTRA members should forcefully argue for this approach within their union.

Winning a big victory will require bold leadership. This is unfortunately lacking at the top of many unions at present, which are dominated by “business unionist” leaders who are often allergic to strikes and class struggle methods.

This is why rank-and-file workers need to get organized ourselves. We need independent organizations that can transform the labor movement into a militant, fighting force. And we need a workers’ party to fight for a different kind of society, instead of one that gives bosses so much power in the first place.

Solidarity with striking writers! Donate to Workers Strike Back today and help us fight for a REAL raise, good union jobs for ALL, and a new party for working people. Consider a monthly donation of $10, $20, or more to sustain this fight for the long term!