Across the country, workers are going on strike, from writers in Hollywood, to teachers in Portland asking for better pay and resources. This all begs the question: is going on strike worth the trouble? Yes, going on strike will always be worth the trouble.
The question that should be asked is: Why do workers go on strike? Throughout the years unionization and strikes have been two of the most powerful tools in the worker’s arsenal. That’s why strikes are so crucial and important. A strike is a form of protest when laborers refuse work due to grievances they have with their employer. In the 1920s workers would unionize and refuse to work, forcing powerful factory owners to give in to their demands or they wouldn’t have a workforce to produce goods for them. No production equates to no money, which leads to a lose-lose situation for everyone involved unless employers give into the demands of the protesters. In those days the average worker had no real rights, there was no job security, no work benefits, and no government-mandated minimum wage. Without those crucial strikes of the early 1900s, none of these important job benefits of today would exist so the workers’ ability to go on strike is very important. Such gatherings were completely justified because they saved lives and improved workers rights across the world. However, modern workers aren’t contending with the same grueling conditions that you would expect in an old 19th-century factory. Therefore, what might their descendants be going on strike for over one-hundred years later?
The two main reasons for the Hollywood writer’s strike were one, workers’ pay, and two the use of A.I software. Hollywood writers feared that the use of A.I like Chatgpt could potentially lead to their full-on replacement putting thousands of workers out of a job with Skynet taking their place. That’s a completely justifiable reason to go on strike. The writers don’t want to lose their job. Besides, Hollywood should’ve learned their lesson about A.I in 1984 with the first terminator, but like that dying franchise they just keep bringing it up. With each passing year A.I software is only getting more advanced, and Hollywood is above all else a business designed to maximize profits and limit expenses. Choosing an advanced A.I like Chatgpt to do the same job of a human writer for a fraction of the cost in the fraction of the time might seem like a no-brainer to a Hollywood executive cut off from the rest of his world in his Beverly Hills penthouse. However, it’s far less of an easy choice for the human writer who might lose his/her livelihood to said A.I software. Going on strike to create a binding precedent regarding A.I in the workforce is completely justified, as it protects the job security of thousands of writers across the country and potentially the world.
Moving on, the second concern of Hollywood writers’ was low pay, which is also completely reasonable. Writers deserve as much attention and pay as the actors, because if it wasn’t for those writers there would be no scene for them to act in. If these writers didn’t go on strike, those big-wig Hollywood executives who focus on making money could keep on doing whatever they wanted. As stated before a strike is the only real way a worker can fight back against their employer. This applies to anyone who might go on strike. A worker isn’t just going to pack his bags and stop working for no reason. Strikes can be difficult to organize and they might not always be successful. Employers mistreating their employees is no new thing and the struggle to fight back against greedy companies has always existed for workers of any kind, be that worker from a factory in the 1900s or a screenwriter in 2023. Workers rights are important and so going on strike to fight for those rights will always be justified.
