the wga writers strike kicked into gear back in may but since then a sagaftra writers strike has also begun meaning hollywood is pretty much at a standstill so what exactly does that mean and how will it affect you to give you the lowdown on what exactly is going on weve put together a quick guide below to answer all of your burning questions below youll find why the writers strike is happening if its connected to the actors strike and when the wga writers strike could end weve also got information on what happened the last time the writers went on strike and which shows are currently affected by the industrial action this is the first time since 1960 the writers and actors have been on strike at the same time which means the present moment is an historic one indeed at the moment its unclear how things will turn out but expect the impact to be seismic what is the wga writers strikeimage credit rodin eckenroth via getty imagesthe writers guild of america is a union that represents writers in film television radio and online media there are two branches east and west which operate separately out of new york city and los angeles but they negotiate contracts and launch strike action togetherthe wga started their latest strike on may 2 2023 their first industrial action since 2007 union members are striking now after the guild failed to negotiate a new contract with the alliance of motion picture and television producers which represents hollywood studios after their previous deal expired on may 1 the main reason for the strike is unsatisfactory pay median screenwriter pay hasnt risen since 2018 and if were accounting for inflation its actually fallen by 14 while median weekly pay for writerproducers has declined by 23 over the last decade when adjusting for inflation wga members also have demands for regulations for the use of material produced using artificial intelligence or similar technologiesis the writers strike and sagaftra actors strike linkedimage credit getty images newswga and sagaftra are separate unions so their strikes are not officially linked however there is some overlap between the two unions on their concerns considering both groups are part of the same industry there have also been messages of solidarity between both wga and sagaftra the last time both writers and actors were on strike at the same time is 1960 making this a particularly historic moment for hollywood what does the writers strike mean for viewers image credit abcwell it means that a lot of your favorite tv shows are about to be disrupted striking members of the wga cannot write sell or option material which means no new scripts will be written while the strike is ongoing additionally strikers cant discuss their work with studios or revise scripts that have already been written this means that shows that continue to shoot through the strike period will not have anyone on hand to deal with