The WGA and SAG-AFTRA rallied at Amazon Studio in Culver City to help push a bill that would provide unemployment insurance to striking workers in California. As it stands now, striking writers and actors in New York are already eligible to receive unemployment benefits after 14 days, but California has no such laws that allow them to qualify for benefits.
Senate Bill 799 will implement the policy if signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. It passed the Assembly Insurance Committee last week and the California legislature has until Sept. 14 to send it to Newsom’s desk for approval.
“Writers have had to rely on strike loans from our union, donations, philanthropy, and second and third jobs to pay for their basic needs since May 2,” WGA West President Meredith Stiehm told the committee last week in Sacramento. “Four months without work is emotionally brutal and financially disastrous. I’m proud to report that our members have held strong and kept their resolve throughout this long hot labor summer, but they are suffering.”
“It’s time for California to catch up and meet the demands of the time,” she said. “Writers are the present-day example of workers who could greatly benefit from UI, but we’re really here for the workers in the future who will need this protection if they make the difficult decision to go on strike.”
Stiehm, along with SAG-AFTRA Secretary-Treasurer Joely Fisher, SAG-AFTRA Executive Vice President Ben Whitehair, IATSE International Vice President Thom Davis and LA County Federation of Labor President Yvonne Wheeler also spoke at the picket on Thursday, Sept. 7 to rally on the subject.
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