Universal Rally: Where the Sidewalk Scuffle Ends?
Spoiler alert: probably not
On the heels of Tree-gate, Universal Studios was again the subject of scrutiny this morning as the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA organized a rally to regain sidewalk access on Lankershim Blvd. in Universal City, where construction began shortly after the writers strike started in early May, blocking off picketable terrain.
WGA negotiating committee co-chair David Goodman and SAG-AFTRA treasurer Joely Fisher were among the speakers at the rally. More than 26,000 people signed a petition demanding that studio parent NBCUniversal fix the situation. This follows complaints that the WGA and SAG-AFTRA filed several weeks ago with the National Labor Relations Board over the sidewalk (or lack thereof).
In the WGA’s filing, the union alleged that NBCU had interfered with lawful picketing by “designating as picketing locations areas where the public sidewalks have been covered up with construction fencing, forcing picketers to patrol in busy streets with significant car traffic where two picketers have already been struck by a car and by refusing to provide K-rail barriers to establish pedestrian walkways for picketers to use after Los Angeles Police Department advised the employer weeks ago in the interest of public safety to do so.” (As you’ll recall, Strikegeist spoke with the two writers who were hit by a car that first week of the writers strike in early May.)
An NBCU spokesperson responded that “from day one, we’ve supported the guilds’ right to demonstrate at entrances to our property and have actively been looking for solutions to increase safe access during our multi-year construction project that broke ground in February 2020.”
While the official flier for the “Stand and Deliver” rally had originally advertised “march[ing] the petition straight to Universal’s door” following the speeches, that part of the event did not happen. Chalk it up to either a peace offering or well-timed progress on the construction, but NBCU unveiled new asphalt walkways this week, allowing improved access for picketers.
Still, if strikers are hoping for a fully renovated and accessible Lankershim Blvd. anytime soon, that’s unlikely. NBCU says the construction isn’t due to be completed until the spring of 2024, but that there are currently two plans in development to provide safer sidewalk access to picketers.
“The first plan includes placing hard barriers in the street. Because this requires a city lane closure, we have submitted this plan to the City for review and approval,” said the spokesperson. “The second plan, which mitigates traffic impacts, creates temporary walking paths and expanded shaded rest areas. We have implemented the second plan and it substantially increases demonstrators’ safe access to our busiest gates on Lankershim Blvd.”
Goodman told me after the rally that the construction’s “timing is at very least suspicious, but the fact that NBCU is willing to now address the problem and provide safe walkways for picketers — that’s all we want. Just respect our right to picket.”
Elsewhere in The Ankler
Richard Rushfield on the approaching 100-day mark of the current writers strike, and where we go from here.
Both sides bet that the other side would crack, and as of this point, both sides have been proven wrong. On the one side, writers' dream scenarios about getting into the fault lines between the studios and picking them off one by one, have not even slightly materialized. Since the strike began, there's been constant buzz of dissent in the AMPTP ranks. If true, its members are doing such a good job of hiding that dissent, that you could almost call it unity.
On the other side, AMPTP didn't believe the writers would actually go on strike. And when they did, it didn't believe they would stay unified in the face of unemployment; that the showrunners would rise up and turn on the underlings. One hears buzz of showrunner discontent and grumbles from the picket lines — but as with the studios, not a peep of that makes it to the public sphere. If another Dirty Thirty scenario is out there, it's way way out there, far over the horizon.
Read the full column on main, only for subscribers of The Ankler.
Today in Strike News
SAG-AFTRA president and New Yorker Fran Drescher made an appearance on the NYC picket line today after appearing on the Today show this morning. “We have financially prepared ourselves for the next six months,” Drescher said on the morning program. “And we’re really in it to win it.” (Vanity Fair)
Former Arrow star Stephen Amell came under fire for saying that although he supports his union, he does “not support striking,” calling it a “reductive negotiating tactic.” But he walked back his comments today, saying “Of course I don’t like striking. Nobody does. But we have to do what we have to do.” (CNN)
Even though fall schedules are now heavily leveraged on unscripted fare, reality TV workers are reporting a host of issues, including fewer jobs, tougher conditions, and a lack of a union presence. “I have been a professional editor for over 30 years, and I don’t know when I’m going to get my next gig,” Editors Guild board member and MasterChef editor Molly Shock said. “I have never seen it this dry for unscripted. I know many people who have not worked in three to four months. I know people who haven’t worked since December.” (THR)
The Motion Picture Industry Pension & Health Plans is allowing certain workers to be given additional qualifying hours so that they can still be eligible for health insurance during the strike. (The Hollywood Reporter)
A number of traits set apart the New York and Los Angeles pickets, but they all boil down to one key aspect: “East Coast picketers are acting like seasoned recon Marines, going out and actively pursuing the enemy’s hidden locations and drawing their own battle lines,” says one bicoastal writer. “West Coast picketers are acting like they’re at a Dave Matthews Band concert.” (LA Mag)
Lucky there’s a family guy: Seth MacFarlane donated a whopping $1 million sum to The Entertainment Community Fund for industry workers in need of financial aid. (Variety)
Picket Sign Scene of the Day
Apparently, they made shirts out of Hellboy star Ron Perlman’s, uh, fiery Instagram vid. Here’s former WGA West pres and Savage Grace scribe Howard Rodman donning one at the rally outside Universal today.
Additional reporting by Matthew Frank.
Disclosure: Elaine Low is an inactive SAG-AFTRA member.