Along with game shows, news programs, and reality TV, soap operas operate under a different contract than the rest of the Screen Actors Guild, which covers film and television more specifically. These performers are still part of the SAG-AFTRA, but they can continue to work during the strike because they are employed under the National Code of Fair Practice for Network Broadcasting. SAG-AFTRA voted to strike after they were unable to reach an agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (via Entertainment Weekly). 

Soap actors are bound by the Network Code, which lasts until July 2024, according to Deadline (SAG-AFTRA's current contract, on the other hand, expired on June 30, 2023). Because soap stars work under an entirely different agreement, these actors must continue on as normal regardless of SAG's ongoing negotiations with the AMPTP. Moreover, certain soaps have already found ways around the writers' strike, even hiring non-unionized writers to supplement those they've lost during it. 

This marks the first time that both SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America have been on strike at the same time since 1960. And, although Linsey Godfrey has shared her thoughts on the strike, "Days of Our Lives" will be the last of the soap operas impacted by any of the strikes as they shoot further in advance than any other sudser, per People.