NBCUniversal Partially Restores Sidewalk For WGA, SAG

Two weeks after the Writers Guild of America and performers organization SAG-AFTRA filed mirror National Labor Relations Board grievances against NBCUniversal, claiming the studio had infringed on their members’ right to picket — as well as their safety — by obstructing the public sidewalk in front of their studio lot, the company has restored partial access along Lankershim Boulevard.

The changes — freshly poured asphalt and removed fencing — were revealed on Tuesday to marchers and uninvolved pedestrians alike in the hours before the two unions held a joint press conference and rally at the studio’s main entrance, at which they assailed NBCUniversal both for its perceived mulishness in the respective contractual negotiations that have led to the ongoing strikes and the sidewalk situation, which they find hazardous. During his speech at the event, WGA negotiating committee co-chair David A. Goodman said: “Our employers hate picketing. They really hate it. They really want us to go away. NBCU hated it so much they ripped up the fucking sidewalks.” (Studio construction work, which affected its Lankershim Boulevard boundary, began a week after the writers strike started in May.)

On June 6, following a site visit, the LAPD recommended the placement of a temporary concrete barrier, known as a K-rail, along the street. The WGA amassed more than 26,000 signatures on a petition demanding redress for the picketing conditions outside the lot. It had originally planned to march the petition through the studio’s gates at the conclusion of the press conference and rally before seeing the concessions presented on Tuesday morning.

For its part, NBCUniversal, which has been on its back foot for months over picketing conditions, said in a statement: “From day one, we’ve supported the guilds’ right to demonstrate at entrances to our property and have actively been looking for solutions to increase safe access during our multi-year construction project that broke ground in February 2020. Given the complexity of traffic challenges on Lankershim Blvd., we’ve been developing two potential plans simultaneously. The first plan includes placing hard barriers in the street. Because this requires a city lane closure, we have submitted this plan to the city for review and approval.”

The company adds that the second plan, which it’s carried out, “mitigates traffic impacts, creates temporary walking paths and expanded shaded rest areas” by erecting tents for picketers at its gates. “We have implemented the second plan and it substantially increases demonstrators’ safe access to our busiest gates on Lankershim Blvd.”

The WGA is insistent that the K-rail project be completed. A Writers Guild spokesperson says: “Members have continued to picket despite the impediments created by NBCU and we haven’t let up on our demand for pedestrian safety on the studio. Though it’s encouraging to see progress being made, we intend to hold NBCU accountable and be here until they follow through on their promises and negotiate a fair contract.”

WGA organizers who oversee the NBCU picket consider the Lankershim Boulevard reopening — now allowing foot traffic on either end, but still not for multiple blocks in between — to be a half-measure, only reluctantly granted due to public pressure. “It’s amazing how quickly they can get sidewalk laid,” coordinator Mike Moore observes dryly. “We’ve noticed a massive shift in how they were engaging with us after tree-gate,” referring to the illegal and disputedly timed ficus trimming along another stretch of NBCUniversal-bordering sidewalk, which resulted in a city fine. “They seem aware of news cycles.”

Adds another WGA coordinator, Rob Forman: “What’s happened here with this sidewalk, how they’ve handled it, is a microcosm of the strike in general. It took a lot of pressure and shaming for them to move an inch. But we see this as a first step in AMPTP addressing our needs.”

The Writers Guild hopes that SAG-AFTRA, which has had members supporting the NBCUniversal picket but no official presence since the actors’ work stoppage began on July 14, will now feel comfortable joining them. SAG-AFTRA had previously said that it couldn’t “safely send its members to picket” due to conditions outside the lot.

The union didn’t respond to The Hollywood Reporter for this story, but at the rally, SAG-AFTRA negotiating committee member Joely Fisher told the crowd, “I vow to be here with you now. We wanted to make it safe,” adding: “We are in it for the long haul.”

NBCUniversal’s decision comes days after Hackman Capital Partners, the owner of Radford Studio Center, another contested protest site, reversed course in allowing picketing at its main entrance shortly after THR examined the legality.