‘General Hospital’ Is Now Using Scab Writers

Marina Fang
·4 min read
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With TV and film writers in the Writers Guild of America nearing their fourth month on strike, some shows are likely to start using scab writers to produce new episodes. One of the most prominent to already do so is the long-running and prolific daytime soap “General Hospital,” according to one of the show’s writers currently on strike.

In an Instagram post last Friday, Shannon Peace, a WGA member, said that beginning Tuesday, “the show will be penned exclusively by scab writers, which is heartbreaking.”

Scabs are workers who, during a strike, cross the picket line and agree to perform the work of striking union members.

Last Thursday’s episode was the last one she wrote before she and her fellow writers went on strike, Peace wrote in her post. Since May, over 11,500 film and TV writers in the WGA have been on strike, after studio executives, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, failed to agree to a fair deal. (HuffPost’s unionized staffers are also members of the WGA East.)

A spokesperson for ABC, which produces “General Hospital,” declined to comment Wednesday. Severalother outlets cited sources confirming the show is now using scab writers. 

In her post, Peace said the situation was complex, given how prolific soap operas are, and how, in recent years, networks have steadily canceled daytime soaps due to declining ratings. “General Hospital” is just one of four network TV soaps still on the air, along with CBS’s “The Young and the Restless” and “The Bold and the Beautiful.” Last year, NBC announced “Days of Our Lives” would now only air on Peacock.

“Daytime writers face a unique conflict during strikes,” Peace wrote. “We hate to see our characters and storylines handed over to ‘writers’ who cross the picket line. But we’re also keenly aware that stopping production could spell the demise of soap operas. Hoping the AMPTP does the right thing soon — not just for writers, but for the integrity of storytelling.”

Further complicating the situation is that unlike the vast majority of film and TV actors right now, the “General Hospital” actors are not on strike because they are governed by a different contract, settled last summer.

About 160,000 members of the Screen Actors Guild have been on strike since earlier this month. Central to both the writers and actors strikes are issues of equitable pay and working conditions, as studio and streaming executives boast of huge profits and take home massive salaries, while writers and actors fight to sustain their careers. In addition, both groups are asking for guardrails around the use of artificial intelligence, sounding the alarm about the potential for AI to replace their work. 

However, the actors on “General Hospital” are covered by SAG-AFTRA’s Network Television Code, a different contract that was ratified in 2022. The contract covers actors, performers and announcers on daytime soaps and certain talk shows, reality shows, game shows and award shows.

Actors Tajh Bellow, Brook Kerr and Donnell Turner on a recent episode of
Actors Tajh Bellow, Brook Kerr and Donnell Turner on a recent episode of

Actors Tajh Bellow, Brook Kerr and Donnell Turner on a recent episode of "General Hospital." The long-running ABC daytime soap has begun using scab writers during the WGA strike.

While acknowledging her complicated emotions about the show’s use of scabs, Peace encouraged “General Hospital” fans to keep watching the show so that everyone who works on the show can keep the lights on. (In addition, neither the WGA nor SAG has called for a boycott of shows and movies. Instead, writers and actors have noted that it’s important for the public to continue supporting their work and demonstrate to studio executives that the work of writers and actors is not replaceable or interchangeable.)

“My episode that aired Thursday, July 20 was my final until the strike is over. Starting Tuesday, the writing team of GH will be watching alongside fans to see what happens… for the sake of the fans, I hope the show is in capable writing hands. But I have to also acknowledge the pain of knowing that characters we’ve developed, relationships we built and stories we planned are being handled by others,” she wrote. “Still, my hope is that if you love GH, you’ll continue to watch. You can morally support the writers AND keep the show on the air!” 

During the last writers strike in 2007 and 2008, the major daytime soaps also used scab writers, as The New York Times noted at the time.

The scab writers operated under “a guild designation known as ‘financial core,’” the Times reported, which “allows individuals to pay some union dues and fees and to be covered by collective bargaining agreements, but those individuals are not union members and are not compelled to go on strike, but they are the exception.”

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