The Writers Guild of America (WGA) agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) expired on May 1, 2023, and the union struck on May 2.
Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) agreement with the AMPTP expired June 30, 2023, and they struck on July 14.
AMPTP includes Amazon/MGM, Apple, Disney/ABC/Fox, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount/CBS, Sony, Warner Bros. Discovery (HBO), among others.
Musicians for Musicians (MFM) supports ongoing strikes by Writers and Actors unions.
Both strikes are by union workers against the management with whom they have entered into previous labor agreements; both unions feel that management is not bargaining with them in good faith, particularly in the areas of streaming media revenues and the future use of A.I. in the creative process (potentially displacing living human creatives).
The American Federation of Musicians (AFM) has several film and tv-related labor contracts with management that expire toward the end of 2023, and has similar concerns with those of WGA and SAG-AFTRA regarding streaming and A.I. The AFM has expressed its strong support for the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes, and MFM stands firmly in solidarity with all three unions in their quest for fair treatment of the workers they represent.
