For many WGA members, one fact loomed large over these negotiations: The 2023 writers strike coincided with a sharp contraction in employment, with Writers Guild data showing television writing jobs falling 42% year over year in the 2023–24 season—equating to there being roughly 1,300 fewer positions. The SAG-AFTRA negotiations are proceeding under a media blackout, so people aren’t saying much. The actors union declined a request for an interview, and the AMPTP did not respond. However, underneath the silence is a shared reluctance to test a strike again because of fears that it might worsen the industry’s ongoing contraction, according to multiple industry sources who spoke to VF. Kuntz describes the dynamic between the studios and the unions as “two uncertain and weak entities negotiating” in an environment completely different from the one they were in last time. “In 2026 the old world is gone,” Kuntz says. The previous SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes revolved around familiar matters—streaming residuals, minimum pay, mini writers rooms, and early concerns about artificial intelligence. The current talks are unfolding in …