SAG-AFTRA Says No More Picketing at Universal Until Studio Adds Concrete Barriers
SAG-AFTRA told members on Monday that there will be further official picket lines at Universal until the studio adds cement barriers, or K-rails, outside its main Lankershim Blvd. entrance.
“Picketing at Universal is suspended until they provide a truly safe option for our members,” the guild said in an update on its website.
“We showed [NBCUniversal] that their ‘solution’ is not a safe or realistic option for our members,” SAG-AFTRA said in a separate memo to members. “As safety on the picket lines is always our number one priority, we have determined that until NBCUniversal installs the K-rails we’re insisting on, we cannot safely picket at NBCUniversal.”
Picket lines will resume as normal at the Disney and Warner lots, along with other Los Angeles backlots and production offices for studios like Netflix, Sony, and Paramount.
On Friday, SAG-AFTRA cancelled its scheduled picket lines at the nearby Disney and Warner Bros. lots and encouraged members picketing there to instead gather in front of Universal. It was the first official picket line by the actors guild since its strike began on July 14, and came days after NBCUniversal pulled back construction fences for a studio renovation project that had blocked sidewalks on Lankershim Blvd.
NBCUniversal said in a statement last week that it has added “temporary walking paths and expanded shaded rest areas” while it waits for city approval to add K-Rails on Lankershim Blvd., a move that was recommended by the LAPD back in June after it examined how the construction fences had impacted the ability of WGA members to hold picket lines.
But during Friday’s picket lines, the number of SAG-AFTRA members that attended overwhelmed the walking paths set up by NBCUniversal as well as the sidewalks across the street from the Lankershim entrance. Towards the end of the scheduled picket line, guild members spilled out into the streets surrounding the studio, with some marching on the pedestrian bridge connecting the studio entrance to the nearby Metro Rail station.
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