In 2022, the Biden administration faced one of its most consequential domestic challenges when 12 unions representing 115,000 railroad and freight workers voted to authorize a strike. Their demands were straightforward: better pay, improved working conditions, and additional paid sick leave.

Those negotiations were undoubtedly impacted by the emergence of supply chain reliability as a central economic consideration. During the period of pandemic-era lockdowns and early stages of reopening, supply chains served as a major impediment to economic recovery. Results included off-again and on-again periods of growth and an enduring bout of excess inflation that persists today. A railroad strike would simply extend and exacerbate supply chain dysfunction, setting the stages for softer growth and rapidly rising prices in the context of associated scarcity.

Policymakers in Washington understood this. Accordingly, President Biden urged Congress to pass legislation to impose a tentative agreement between railroad companies and their employees. Though eight of the 12 unions ratified the agreement, four held out, citing concerns regarding the lack of paid leave. Ultimately, the deal raises wages 24% over the following five years while mandating improvements in working conditions. While a strike was averted, the episode foreshadowed the high stakes negotiations between labor and management that are set to persist over the next several months.

Fast forward to 2023. On May 2nd, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike to demand better wages, residual payments from streaming services, and firmer job protection against prospectively dislocating technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and computer-generated images. One of the many items for which 2023 will be remembered is that AI became less theoretical and more available. Studios have begun utilizing AI to produce content that would have previously been produced by guild members. It comes as little surprise, then, that writers would take a stand against the growing pervasiveness of technologies that can render them increasingly irrelevant.

In September, the WGA reached a tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. As indicated by various media sources, a seven-page document was distributed to the WGA’s 11,500 film and TV writer members. The agreement was reached after 146 days of picketing and marching “that virtually shuttered movie and scripted TV production.”

According to the WGA, the total value of the deal was $233 million, considerably more than the $86 million the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had offered earlier. The three-year film and TV contract raises basic wages by 5% during the first year, followed by 4% in year 2 and 3.5% during year 3. According to the LA Times, the contract establishes a new system for supplying bonuses to writers based on streaming service viewership.