Janitors who lost jobs during WGA strike join picket line

CNN

A group of several hundred janitors joined writers in a picket outside Sony Pictures Studios and Amazon Studios on Thursday. Some custodial workers have lost their job while productions were halted.

SEIU United Service Workers West reports that about 50 members of their union have been laid off in the Los Angeles region. The union was unable to estimate the impact on other filming hubs such as Georgia and New York.

Natalia Lopez is a single mother who has been cleaning offices at Paramount Studios since 2007. She said that she was told not to go to work. She's been out of work for five days while her coworkers have already been laid off. She marched with hundreds of janitors through Culver City to show solidarity with writers.

"Right now I am spending the money that I have saved. There is no money if there is no work. Lopez stated that they were losing $20.74 an hour. 'Food is now just the basics like rice and beans.

SAG-AFTRA could strike if no agreement is reached by 30 June. This would put more productions on hold.

We understand that things could get worse. David Huerta is the president of SEIU USWW. He said, "We know that if we win it will only get better." There is significant anxiety about the possible loss of jobs. Our members understand sacrifice and struggle better than anyone else.

Rebekah Köhler, a writer who was outside of Netflix in Hollywood Wednesday, recognized that local restaurant workers and janitors are also suffering: 'I've been to a nearby restaurant and their sales have declined. It's almost like dominoes. As soon as people see us go down, they follow.

Stagehand Amanda Winter, who works for CNN's parent, Warner Brothers Discovery, said that the production stop affects everyone.

"Janitors" are people who drive trucks for movies and people who build sets. Everyone involved in producing a show, a film or anything else is at a standstill. Winter stated that "every single one" of them is not working.

Kevin Klowden is the chief global strategist at the Milken Institute. He says that the financial impact of the WGA strike on the Milken Institute will be much greater than the 100-day WGA strike in 2007-08.

Klowden stated that the industry anticipated the strike this time and laid off workers earlier. Klowden said that this compounded the difficulties businesses already felt from pandemic closings, and put their resilience into question.

Klowden stated that 'a number of businesses have already begun cutting staff anecdotally'. Then, does this become permanent?

Klowden mentioned the dry cleaners and caterers as well as the 'Star Wagons' restaurants and the custodial employees. He noted that it may take some time for those job losses to be reported and filled.

Another major difference between the current writers' strike, and the previous one, is that more productions are now being done outside California, in places like Georgia or New York. This has a broader economic impact.

According to the Motion Picture Association, in 2021, film and television will support 822,000 jobs directly, with a total of 2,4 million jobs. According to the association, a major motion film shooting on location generates $250,000 in local revenue per day. A single one-hour TV episode that is shot on location also contributes $150,000.