For the purposes of this guide the entertainment sector includes those involved in movies, television, radio, and news. We have included a highly abbreviated history of some of the unions working in those sectors. There are organizations that have not been included, but we have tried to include some of the larger ones and provide dates and history, as well as some of the names of the most notable people or events as searching on those can provide another way to research the union and its activities.

Authors Guild

The Authors Guild is a professional organization for published writers and was founded in 1912 as the Authors League of America.

Writers Guild of America (WGA)

Founded in 1933 as the Screen Writers’ Guild, the Writers Guild of America represents writers in TV and motion pictures. Other organizations of note in the history of the Guild are the Screen Writers Guild (SWG) and the Writers Guild of America West. There have been a number of notable strikes including ones in 1960, 1973, 1981, 1985, 1988, 2007/2008, and 2023.

International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees and Motion Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States (IATSE)

IATSE was formed in New York in 1893 as the National Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (NATSE). It represents many of the technicians and artisans in the entertainment industry (live theatre, motion pictures, television, trade shows).

Directors Guild of America (DGA)

Formed in 1936, the Directors Guild of America represents film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry.

Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA)

SAG-AFTRA was founded in 2012 but the history is much older. It was formed by the merger of the Screen Actors Guild (formed in 1933) which represented film and television actors and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (the successor to the American Federation of Radio Artists) founded in 1937. SAG-AFTRA unions have gone on strike several times including 1960, 1967 and one that began in July 2023.

International Typographical Union (ITU)

The International Typographical Union was formed in 1852 as the National Typographical Union and represented the printing trades for newspapers. In 1869, it changed its name to International Typographical Union and was one union to admit women including Augusta Lewis who founded the Women's Typographical Union. Internal conflicts led to some members forming other unions including: the International Printing Pressmen's Union of North America in 1889; the International Brotherhood of Bookbinders in 1892; the International Printing Pressmen Union Assistants, in 1897; and the International Stereotypers' and Electrotypers' Union in 1902. The union was dissolved in 1986. However, the ITU also included the Women's International Auxiliary which was founded in 1902 and continued until 1990.

Communications Workers of America (CWA) and NewsGuild (TNG-CWA)

The Communications Workers of America (CWA) traces its history to 1918 when telephone operators organized under the Telephone Operators Department of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. In 1938, it reorganized as National Federation of Telephone Workers. After losing a strike with AT&T in 1947, it reorganized as CWA. In 1995, it merged with the Newspaper Guild.

In 1933, Joseph Cookman an editor of the New York Post, Allen Raymond of the New York Herald Tribune and Heywood Broun of the New York World-Telegram founded the American Newspaper Guild. It took on the name Newspaper Guild in the 1970s and merged with the Communications Workers of America in 1995, and became NewsGuild CWA (TNG-CWA).