California Governor Gavin Newsom said that he was “very worried” about the WGA strike, warning that “every single one of us will be impacted by this.”
At the Milken Institute Global Conference on Tuesday, Newsom also floated the possibility of his office getting involved in negotiations at some point.
“We’re not unfamiliar with labor issues, and when called in by both sides we’ll intervene, to the extent both sides are willing and interested in that,” he said.
The governor said that the work stoppage “has profound consequences direct and indirect. Every single one of us will be impacted by this, and we’re very concerned about what is going on because both sides are dug in. The stakes are high.”
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Newsom said that he was “sensitive to the concerns of the writers on this, very, in terms of what streaming is doing, what the next conversation with AI is doing in this space. This is a very real and existential moment and I am very hopeful that we can extend this not beyond the 100 days of the last strike, but this extend this no more than a few weeks.”
Newsom had been monitoring negotiations through the weekend. “I’m very worried about it because those negotiations ended a lot quicker, a lot sooner than we expected.”
Talks broke down on Monday night hours before the expiration of the WGA’s basic agreement with the studios.
Newsom was participating in a Q&A with MSNBC host Stephanie Ruhle, who noted that the Milken Institute estimated that the 2007-08 strike was a $2 billion loss to state economic activity.
Earlier on Tuesday, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass urged both sides to resolve the impasse. “Los Angeles relies on a strong entertainment industry that is the envy of the world while putting Angelenos to work in good, middle class jobs. I encourage all sides to come together around an agreement that protects our signature industry and the families it supports,” she said.
Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA) also weighed in on the strike.
In a statement, he said that “every worker deserves to earn a good living, including members of the Writers Guild who play such a critical role in our nation’s entertainment industry. I urge both sides to quickly reach a fair agreement that improves wages and takes into account a changing economy and evolving technologies.” He also warned that failure to reach an agreement “will have serious impacts on our state and national economy.”
Earlier on Tuesday, Reps. Adam Schiff and Katie Porter, Democrats running to succeed Dianne Feinstein in the U.S. Senate, each issued statements backing the writers in the labor impasse.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who has been critical of excessive CEO pay, wrote on Twitter, “Last year, 8 Hollywood CEOs made nearly $800 million, yet pay for TV writers has fallen by 23 percent over the last 10 years. I stand with the nearly 12,000 WGA West writers on strike for a fair contract.”
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