Hollywood Strikers Accuse NBCUniversal of Blocking Picket Area

Facts

• On Tuesday, Hollywood's Writers Guild of America (WGA), which alongside the SAG-AFTRA union is striking for better pay and to curb the use of artificial intelligence (AI), filed a grievance with the US National Labor Relations Board against NBCUniversal for allegedly blocking a picket area.¹
• The WGA says NBCUniversal endangered its members by obstructing the public sidewalk immediately abutting the studio during an ongoing construction project.²
• In its own filing, SAG alleged that its members had been forced "to picket at the unsafe crowded location, exacerbating the dire public safety situation to interfere with striking members’ right to engage in the protected, concerted activity of picketing."²
• NBCUniversal said it supports the unions’ rights to demonstrate safely and that it understood the timing of its multi-year construction project had created challenges for demonstrators, adding that it was working with public agencies to increase access.¹
• Some writers have also complained about NBCUniversal's decision to trim trees that had provided shade for demonstrators. Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia has said the issue would be investigated.³
• The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which has been in labor talks with WGA since March 20, said they "have pruned these trees annually at this time of year to ensure that the canopies are light ahead of the high wind season." It also claims WGA is at fault for walking away from negotiations.³

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²The Hollywood Reporter, and ³Los Angeles Times.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The Wrap. This strike is bigger than just the TV and movie industry, as it's brought people together from all walks of the entertainment world. While movie and TV strikers are mostly showing up in front of the major production studios, the SAG-AFTRA has specifically also barred its members from attending San Diego's Comic-Con event. Writers and actors keep the entirety of Hollywood running smoothly — from blockbuster films to promoting smaller comics — and this strike proves that.
• Narrative B, as provided by CNBC. These writers may have picked a fight they cannot win. The streaming boom is over, and the once cash-flush platforms are feeling the pinch. Platforms are in no rush to spend money or greenlight another prestige show as investors bear down on them to turn a profit. Everyone in the industry is grappling with this slowdown, and writers shouldn't receive special treatment.
• Narrative C, as provided by Times Republican. While the WGA/SAG strike is a historic moment for the industry and must continue, they should be cautious not to let certain high-profile actors turn it into a political stunt. Actress Susan Sarandon, for example, has a history of staining the industry through her controversial politics. If actors like her are able to hijack the movement, it will allow the industry to paint it as a wacky group of grifters using the hard work of writers to push their own agenda.