{"id":2463352,"date":"2026-06-17T07:14:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-17T07:14:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2463352"},"modified":"2026-06-17T07:14:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T07:14:48","slug":"why-the-hollywood-unions-actually-didnt-put-up-a-fight-this-year-and-what-that-means-for-entertainment-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/why-the-hollywood-unions-actually-didnt-put-up-a-fight-this-year-and-what-that-means-for-entertainment-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Why the Hollywood unions actually \u201cdidn\u2019t put up a fight\u201d this year and what that means for entertainment workers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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On June 10, the Hollywood Reporter<\/em> posted an article headlined \u201cWhy Hollywood\u2019s Unions Didn\u2019t Put Up a Fight With Studios This Year.\u201d It\u2019s a superficial piece, which accepts as good coin the explanations provided by the various parties involved.<\/p>\n
In our view, the most accurate and direct response to the article\u2019s headline would be: The Hollywood unions abjectly surrendered as they did in 2026 because they fully accept the existing economic conditions, including the stranglehold of the conglomerates, and act as extensions of management. They are incapable of developing a strategy independent of the corporate oligarchy, and this has disastrous consequences for industry workers.<\/p>\n
But these issues need to be expanded upon and considered by writers, actors, crew members and others.<\/p>\n\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>Sean Astin and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland of SAG-AFTRA (sagaftra.org)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The Hollywood Reporter<\/em>\u2019s account of the 2026 contract cycle, which notes the Directors Guild of America (DGA) as \u201cthe last union to seal a deal,\u201d paints a picture of a year remarkable mainly for its absence <\/em>of drama. \u201cWhat a difference three years makes,\u201d the article begins. 2023 was \u201cspicy.\u201d 2026 was \u201csleepy.\u201d The Writers Guild (WGA) talks were \u201cvery chill.\u201d SAG-AFTRA\u2019s negotiations were \u201cpretty uneventful.\u201d The DGA, true to form, behaved like the responsible eldest child.<\/p>\n
The HR then proceeds to offer explanations for this supposed placidity: the ongoing contraction of Hollywood employment, the unions\u2019 need for health plan funding, the \u201cpersonalities at play\u201d (a new AMPTP president, new union presidents) and the general sense that in a \u201cprecarious industry environment, unionized entertainment workers were in no position to risk another strike.\u201d<\/p>\n
The logic here deserves thinking about. Times are harsh, the employers are taking advantage by cutting jobs and increasing pressure on workers. Therefore … the unions argue, we must run up the white flag!<\/p>\n
What is to be said of organizations that capitulate without a fight in the face of ruthless enemies and bitter conditions? Workers might be able \u201ctolerate\u201d such unions in periods of relative peace and quiet, but now that everything is being turned upside down, the well-heeled union bureaucracies\u2019 utter worthlessness from the point of view of struggle has been revealed. The rank and file will need to take matters into their own hands, or there will be nothing left.<\/p>\n