LA City Council members introduce resolution in support of WGA on writers’ strike

Concluding the first month of the ongoing writers’ strike, two Los Angeles City Council members representing most of Hollywood introduced a resolution in support of striking writers on Friday. If the resolution is passed, the city legislature would formally ask the studios to return to the negotiating table with the Writers Guild of America.

The bill was introduced by Hugo Soto-Martinez, who represents the 12th district (which includes parts of Hollywood where Netflix and Paramount are based), and Katy Yaroslavsky of the 5th district, which covers a significant portion of the city’s west side and also includes the headquarters of FOX and CBS.

Yaroslavski said the resolution was “a proud declaration of solidarity with working families across Los Angeles.” according to spectrum. Soto-Martinez called it “a fight for the future of Hollywood.”

Read the full text of the proposed resolution below:

WHEREAS the Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and Writers Guild of America East (WGAE) (collectively WGA), which collectively represent over 11,500 writers in film and television nationwide, are currently out of contract and on strike are; And

WHEREAS the WGA’s reasonable demands on the major media companies that employ its members – including Disney, NBC Universal, Paramount, Netflix, Apple and Amazon – have not been met; And

WHEREAS writers are facing the most sweeping attack on their pay and working conditions in a generation. Media companies have taken advantage of the industry’s transition to global streaming to underpay their workers. As a result, writers do more work for less pay and with less job security; And

WHEREAS this erosion of author salaries and working conditions has occurred while their employers raked in nearly $30 billion in entertainment operating profits each year from 2017 to 2021; And

Whereas without writers the entertainment industry would have no stories to tell; And

WHEREAS Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world and has a vested interest in the sustainability of this industry’s workforce; And

ACCORDINGLY, IT IS NOW RESOLVED that by adopting this resolution, the Los Angeles City Council will request the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to sit down at the negotiating table and reach a fair deal with the workers of the WGA.

The writers’ strike began on May 2 when talks between the WGA and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the studios, broke down.

For TheWrap’s full WGA strike coverage, click here.