LOS ANGELES (KNX) – Hollywood TV and movie writers marked their 51st day on strike with a rally at the La Brea Tar Pits on Wednesday.
The Writers Guild of America West was joined by members of other unions, including SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, the Directors Guild of America, and the Teamsters. The event kicked off with a march from Pan Pacific Park to the Great Lawn of the La Brea Tar Pits where the rally was held.
WGA Member Adam Conover told the crowd at the rally that writers are refusing to back down until their demands are met.
“We are gonna stay on these picket lines and withhold our labor until screenwriters are protected from free work,” he said. “We are gonna stay out here and withhold our labor until the existence of the writers’ rooms is codified into our contract. We are gonna stay out here until comedy, variety, and daytime writers have the same protections in streaming that we’ve had on cable and broadcast for the past 50 years.”
Singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc expressed his support for the striking writers before performing “Wake Me Up” and “I Need a Dollar.”
Writers have been on strike since early May after reaching an impasse in negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.
At the forefront of the writers’ strike are streaming residuals and artificial intelligence. The union wants higher residual pay for streaming programs with larger viewership, which AMPTP claims would increase rates by 200%. Writers also asked that artificial intelligence is not used to write or rewrite material, to which AMPTP rejected and offered “annual meetings to discuss advancements in technology.”
The Directors Guild reached an agreement with AMPTP on June 3. SAG-AFTRA began negotiations on June 7, but also authorized a strike if negotiations stall.
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