Hundreds of union members in the tourism and hospitality industries, as well as teachers, logistics workers, and public employees, rallied in downtown Los Angeles on Friday (May 26) in a show of unity with striking Hollywood writers.

Hollywood unions back striking writers

Striking Hollywood film and television writers met with union leadership, as the second day of a work stoppage threw the film industry into…

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According to the organizers, they represented more than 200,000 workers with collective bargaining agreements also due to expire in 2023.

“I don’t think the end of 2023 is going to be the end of it. I think that right now we’re seeing the (biggest) rise in a labor movement in America since the 50s, and it’s only going to continue to grow as long as workers aren’t being given safe working conditions, fair wages and able to live in the country that they work in,” said Thomas Pieczkolon of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.

Hollywood writers strike

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) began a work stoppage on May 2 after failing to reach an agreement for higher wages with Hollywood studios including Walt Disney Co, Netflix Inc, and Warner Bros Discovery Inc.

The writers claimed that the decision to go on strike was made after six weeks of negotiations with Netflix, Apple, Amazon, Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, Paramount, and Sony.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents major studios, has said it offered “generous” increases in compensation to writers. No new talks between the two sides are scheduled.