HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Two LA City Council members representing Hollywood introduced a resolution Friday to support striking Writers Guild of America workers.

Hugo Soto-Martinez, who represents parts of Hollywood that include Netflix and Paramount, and Katy Yaroslavsky, whose area includes FOX and CBS, are calling on studios to return to the bargaining table and meet workers’ demands, one month to the day after the strike began.

What You Need To Know

  • LA Council members Hugo Soto-Martinez and Katy Yaroslavsky introduced a resolution Friday to support WGA workers

  • The resolution calls on studios to return to the bargaining table

  • The Writers Guild of America began picketing the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers May 2

  • The labor union representing Hollywood writers is seeking better streaming media residuals and assurances about the use of artificial intelligence

On May 2, the labor union representing 11,500 writers began picketing the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers over residuals from streaming media and guarantees that artificial intelligence tools such as ChatGPT be used to enhance writers’ work, not replace it.

“This is a fight for the future of Hollywood,” Soto-Martinez said in a statement. “We can’t allow these big corporations to enjoy $30 billion in profits over the last few years, and then refuse to pay their workers a living wage.”

The resolution said “writers are doing more work for less pay and with less job security,” and “the entertainment industry would not have stories to tell,” without writers. “Los Angeles is the entertainment capital of the world and has a vested interest in the sustainability of that industry’s workforce,” it read.

Yaroslavsky called the resolution “a proud declaration of solidarity with working families across Los Angeles.”

If adopted, the resolution would have LA City Council urge the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers to negotiate with the Writers Guild and reach a fair deal.