No one can dispute the powerful role TV and entertainment plays in today’s world. Advanced TV Herstory’s organic evolution has certainly been steered by the headlines of the  last eight years. Like many in May, I monitored the Writers Guild of  America (WGA) decision to strike. In mid-July, the actors’ union  SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and  Radio Artists) rejected the studios’ offer that didn’t address many  issues also on the WGA’s list.

A  joint strike of both unions hadn’t happened since 1960 and today’s  issues are as monumental the ones that formed the strike platform 63  years ago.

As  a former union member from a union family, I think this is a really  important topic to bring to listeners. Highly visible labor struggles  and work stoppages have a ripple effect to other industries, so  understanding these unions’ power informs what we can expect in the  future. Further, I am intrigued that there have been two women WGA  presidents, Victoria Riskin and Meredith Stiehm. Seven women have led SAG or  AFTRA (pre-merger) and two since the organization merged.

In  2023, Meredith Stiehm leads the 20,000 WGA members (on the east and  west coasts) and Fran Drescher has served 160,000 SAG-AFTRA members  since 2021.

Stay tuned for our August episode.