What a difference three years makes. While 2023 marked the spiciest year in recent memory for Hollywood labor, with two major unions going on strike for more than 100 days each, 2026 was perhaps the sleepiest.
On Tuesday evening, to little fanfare and with scant public sniping, the Directors Guild of America became the last union to seal a deal in 2026 with Hollywood studios and streamers. While the pact (whose details have yet to be released) is still tentative and could theoretically be rejected by its national board or members in a ratification vote, no one expects them to.
To be sure, the DGA isn’t exactly known for its fiery nature (it’s got more of an eldest-child-who-considers-themselves-the-most-responsible-in-the-family vibe), but unions that have an aggressive side also opted for a low-key negotiation in 2026. The SAG-AFTRA negotiations: Pretty uneventful, despite the fireworks that some expected from its generative AI discussions. The WGA talks: Very chill for a union whose 2007-08 strike saw members form the words “WGA” with their bodies for news helicopters on Pico Boulevard, and that’s just one of many examples of the organization’s colorful advocacy over the years. (Ironically, the most intense labor fight this year was not between the WGA and the studios but between the WGA and its own unionized workers.)
