WGA East Cancels Picket Lines as Wildfire Smoke Covers New York City Metro Area

Alex Weprin
·2 min read

The Writers Guild picket lines are on hold in New York.

The WGA East said late Tuesday night that all picket lines for Wednesday had been canceled due to the hazardous air blanketing the New York City metro area, “out of an abundance of caution.” And on Wednesday, the union’s eastern branch canceled pickets scheduled for the rest of the week for the same reason.

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The decline in air quality is caused by wildfire smoke from Canada drifting down to the east coast of the U.S. The National Weather Service as well as government officials for New York City and other local areas are urging residents to stay indoors as much as possible and to reduce strenuous outdoor activities (and walking in a picket line for hours would qualify).

It is not yet clear when the smoky air will be pushed out of the region. If the hazardous air lingers, picket lines could be further suspended.

The WGA East picket lines have been a mix of high-profile public events outside of corporate offices (John Leguizamo, Busy Phillips and Mark Ruffalo appeared at a picket outside of NBCUniversal’s New York headquarters last month), as well as smaller more strategic picket lines meant to disrupt film and TV productions.

Warren Leight, the veteran Law & Order: SVU showrunner has taken the lead in organizing pickets across New York City and its surrounding suburbs, seeking to shut them down as Teamsters and other staff refuse to cross the pickets. The actions are a “pretty powerful thing,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.

Indeed, network executives have conceded that the strategic picket lines have been “effective.”

If the picket lines remain suspended, it could give some productions (at least the ones that shoot indoors) time to continue shooting.

In terms of other New York events, the 2023 Tribeca Festival, which starts Wednesday night, indicated it was proceeding as planned with indoor events but will have KN95 masks available for staffers working outside.

11 a.m. Updated with info about the 2023 Tribeca Festival’s plans for dealing with the air quality issues.

3:31 p.m. Updated with the WGA East’s decision to cancel pickets for the rest of the week.

Hilary Lewis contributed to this report.

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