Michelle Berger is a student at Harvard Law School.
In today’s News and Commentary: Actors have a contract and President Biden is meeting with UAW president Shawn Fain in Illinois.
The Hollywood actors’ strike ended at 12:01 Pacific Time today. It has been 118 days since the tens of thousands of actors represented by SAG-AFTRA struck in July amid contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The tentative contract between SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will be released Friday. The actors are expected to have won significant concessions in two key areas: compensation from streaming and the use of AI.
Several factors appear to have made the actors’ strike successful. The strike was wide-reaching, with the actors refusing to even promote any struck work. The actors joined Hollywood’s writers, who were on strike from May until September, effectively bringing Hollywood to a standstill. And even as the strike stretched on, the rank-and-file held strong. Thousands of actors signed an open letter last month saying “we would rather stay on strike than take a bad deal.” This is particularly remarkable because SAG-AFTRA’s membership is far from monolithic––while there are iconic movie stars among its membership, the union says that 80 percent of SAF-AFTRA members make less than $27,000 annually.
President Joe Biden is in Illinois today, where he will appear with UAW president Shawn Fain and make a speech discussing the UAW’s historic contract with the Big 3 and his administration’s economic agenda. Unlike many other major labor organizations, the UAW has not yet endorsed Biden for president, but some commentators expect that endorsement soon. Biden visited a picket line of striking UAW workers in Michigan in September, a presidential first in American History. Jason and Kevin discuss Biden’s record on labor issues in greater depth here.
Daily News & Commentary
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July 7
LA economy deals with fallout from ICE raids; a new appeal challenges the NCAA antitrust settlement; and the EPA places dissenting employees on leave.
July 6
Municipal workers in Philadelphia continue to strike; Zohran Mamdani collects union endorsements; UFCW grocery workers in California and Colorado reach tentative agreements.
July 4
The DOL scraps a Biden-era proposed rule to end subminimum wages for disabled workers; millions will lose access to Medicaid and SNAP due to new proof of work requirements; and states step up in the noncompete policy space.
July 3
California compromises with unions on housing; 11th Circuit rules against transgender teacher; Harvard removes hundreds from grad student union.
July 2
Block, Nanda, and Nayak argue that the NLRA is under attack, harming democracy; the EEOC files a motion to dismiss a lawsuit brought by former EEOC Commissioner Jocelyn Samuels; and SEIU Local 1000 strikes an agreement with the State of California to delay the state's return-to-office executive order for state workers.
July 1
In today’s news and commentary, the Department of Labor proposes to roll back minimum wage and overtime protections for home care workers, a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by public defenders over a union’s Gaza statements, and Philadelphia’s largest municipal union is on strike for first time in nearly 40 years. On Monday, the U.S. […]