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Ro Khanna joins SAG-AFTRA and WGA strike in NYC
Ro Khanna pushed for the show's creatives and stars to share in the financial success of the show, rather than the show's CEOs.
Ro Khanna At the protests in NYC / Image-X/RoKhanna
US Congressman Ro Khanna joined the joined the Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) protests against Hollywood studios and production companies over fair wages and contract terms.
“It is unconscionable to have CEOs making millions of dollars and not having writers and actors paid for the content they create,” he said while joining the picket line with writers and actors in New York City. He also delivered a speech and joined the demonstrations, with a banner in hand.
“When you had F.R.I.E.N.D.S or Seinfeld the writers and the actors got a small part of the success and now you are saying if you have streaming we just want two per cent of the success but they are saying no. They are saying no we can’t tell you how many people are watching,” Khanna said addressing the protestors.
He proposed that production studios and companies use third-party sources to determine a show's success rate. “There is a simple solution. There are third parties that can tell you how popular a show was and all you are saying is give the writers a small per cent, two per cent of the revenue of the show if it becomes popular. Don’t just have the CEOs making millions of dollars,” he said.
The actors and writers have been on strike since May 2023, the first time since 1960. Their demands include a living wage and protection from artificial intelligence. Khanna has been a part of the writers and actors strike since day two.
He gave a stirring speech to protesters outside Netflix's Manhattan headquarters, saying that writers needed a seat at the table to figure out how AI would work. “And given that I represent Silicon Valley, that is producing this technology change, I want to stand in solidarity with writers,” he had said back then, as per a Deadline article.
In his recent speech in NYC, Khanna said, “Technology is not a license for exploitation,” referring to A.I. “It’s a broader issue about society.. about working people having gotten shafted for the past four decades where profits have gone up, jobs haven’t kept up, and people can’t afford to live.”
He commended the writers and actors for standing their ground and showing up to the demonstrations every day. “What you do, the standards you set for writers and actors and A.I. is going to be the standard around the world. Thank you for being out here, thank you for fighting, honored to be out here with you,” he said.
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