Hollywood writers, represented by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), went on strike against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers way back on May 2, 2023. It’s still going on, and on July 13, the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Union joined the writers.
Then Universal trimmed back all the trees that shaded the very street where the union members were picketing.
Is this an unfair labor practice?
When employees go on strike, the business has obligations, as do the employees. Neither can go outside the bounds of the law. Strikers can’t destroy company equipment, for example. And employers can’t terminate strike leaders for their union involvement.
But what about trimming back trees that will make protesting so much more uncomfortable? Was this just bad timing, or was this an attempt by Universal to shut down the picket line?
A Universal spokesperson told Deadline it was just bad timing:
“We understand that the safety tree trimming of the Ficus trees we did on Barham Blvd. has created unintended challenges for demonstrators, that was not our intention. In partnership with licensed arborists, we have pruned these trees annually at this time of year to ensure that the canopies are light ahead of the high-wind season. We support the WGA and SAG’s right to demonstrate, and are working to provide some shade coverage. We continue to openly communicate with the labor leaders on-site to work together during this time.”
The Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA say this is just part of Universal’s attempt to limit their ability to picket. They’ve filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board.
Is this a tree law violation?
Universal may not just have a problem with strikers and the NLRB. They may have run afoul of Los Angeles law. Los Angeles City Controller tweeted that Los Angeles is looking into this.
Tree Law was trending on Twitter, as trees rarely get involved in legal disputes. Mejia admitted that while the city should trim trees every five years, they are on a 21-year cycle. Universal says they trim trees yearly.
If Universal did this yearly and it’s just bad luck, then the city, the WGA, and SAG-AFTRA may be out of luck. Employment attorney Jon Hyman said:
If the trimming was scheduled post-strike, or the scope of trees was altered to include only those trees, then it looks retaliatory to me. Coincidence doesn’t always equal causation, but this coincidence looms awfully fishy to his labor lawyer.
Strikes bring out adversarial behavior between both sides. The NLRB will have to weigh in on this tree law situation. It’s a weird turn for a labor dispute, but here we are.
The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.
