La-La-La Labor: Hollywood Labor Strike, 2023

Approximate Committee Size: 28 Delegates

On May 2, 2023, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) officially went on strike after contract negotiations with major Hollywood studios broke down. After decades of live television, streaming services such as Netflix changed the industry's landscape. In striking, WGA searched for increased compensation and residuals from streaming services. The WGA strike continued for several months, only to be later joined by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike in July 2023. This dual strike resulted in widespread disruptions to the entertainment industry, such as a complete shutdown of production projects and decreased employment. As a result, networks relied heavily on reality TV and non scripted content to fill the void of the striking writers. While the strike highlighted the instability of the artistic “gig economy,” it also reflected a widespread wave of labor actions, as seen in technology, healthcare, and education. The strike reflects larger, global trends around the future of work, the balance between technology and labor, and the rights of workers in an increasingly digitized and globalized economy. One of the central concerns of both SAG-AFTRA and the WGA is the growing prominence of artificial intelligence in the entertainment industry, where sophisticated models can replicate the work of actors, writers, and other entertainment creators.

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ISSUES TO CONSIDER

Artificial Intelligence and Art

Reconciliation of Artists and Studios

Unions in the Entertainment Industry

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Understand the economic and structural changes in the entertainment industry, particularly the impact of streaming services and the gig economy on traditional compensation models for writers and actors.
Analyze the role of labor unions in negotiating workers’ rights within large, profit-driven industries, and explore the legal, ethical, and strategic complexities of unionization efforts.
Evaluate the implications of artificial intelligence in creative industries, including issues of intellectual property, labor displacement, and the definition of authorship and performance in the digital age.

About the Chair

Jessica Cao is a member of the Class of 2028 in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown. She is pursuing a major in Science, Technology, and International Affairs with an International Business Diplomacy certificate. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, seeing her closest family and friends get affected by the SAG-AFTRA strikes. Her MUN journey began in sixth-grade, where a novice committee of her closest friends transformed into competing at MUN conferences in London. She was a NAIMUN delegate all of high school, beginning with the 2021 Zoom conference–where breakout room unmods brought out the best and worst in people. Now, she’s thrilled to contribute to NAIMUN from the chairing side. Outside of MUN, Jessica loves building her tier list of DC restaurants (ask her about Chinese-Peruvian fusion!), creating hyper-specific Spotify playlists, and maintaining her almost 2-year Duolingo streak. She is honored to serve as your NAIMUN LXIII Chair!

About the Crisis manager

Robert Chong is a member of Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, Class of 2028. He plans to major in Science, Technology, and International Affairs (duo STIA majors with Jessica!) Despite growing up in Shanghai, China, he’s had his fair share of Los Angeles - his father is from Los Angeles, meaning half of the dinner table conversations at home were about LA (Robert’s dad loves glazing LA). Fun fact: the last time he visited Los Angeles, the SAG-AFTRA strikes happened right next to the hotel he was staying at. Despite not having much MUN experience before college, Robert staffed NCSC LII and NAIMUN LXII and fell in love with the wonderful MUN community here at Georgetown. During his free time, Robert enjoys hitting balls at his friends (tennis), going on weekday night joy rides on lime scooters, and finding a nice, quiet spot on campus to listen to music and chill. He is honored to serve as your NAIMUN LXIII Crisis Manager!