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L.A. County Board Of Supervisors Passes Motion In Support Of WGA Strike, Asks AMPTP To Return To Negotiations

Tom Tapp
·2 min read

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors formally threw its support behind the Writers Guild of America today, as the strike by more than 11,500 WGA members against the AMPTP continues.

“The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unequivocally stands in solidarity with the WGA and believe their negotiation positions to be reasonable and necessary,” according to a motion by Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Kathryn Barger. You can read the motion here.

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Horvath later announced the vote on Twitter.

Contract negotiations between WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have been stalled, with the studios focusing on talks with the Directors Guild of America — with which it reached a tentative labor agreement over the weekend.

The Board of Supervisors motion blamed the writers strike on “the changing business model of the entertainment industry toward streaming services.” This, the motion contends, has led to shorter assignments “leaving many writers underpaid and overworked.”

Meanwhile, according to the motion, “studios have collected almost $30 billion (annually) in profits between 2017 and 2021.” The motion suggests that such profits might not be sustainable unless the producers treat the writers fairly.

With the motion approved, the board is set to send a letter signed by all five board members to producers expressing their support of the WGA and urging the AMPTP to return to the bargaining table.

The AMPTP is scheduled on Wednesday to begin contract talks with SAG- AFTRA. The union announced Monday that its membership had overwhelmingly approved a strike-authorization vote, giving the union the ability to call a strike if contract talks are unsuccessful.

The AMPTP issued a statement Monday night saying, “We are approaching these negotiations with the goal of achieving a new agreement that is beneficial to SAG-AFTRA members and the industry overall.”

City News Service contributed to this story.

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