Los Angeles City Controller Kenneth Mejia said Tuesday that his office is investigating NBCUniversal for trimming trees outside of its studio entrance on Lankershim Blvd.
The trees were apparently trimmed over the weekend, an act members of the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA said is intended to interfere with picket lines of the ongoing strike by removing shade during a heat wave. NBCUniversal denied this.
Mejia noted in a statement, posted in several tweets Tuesday afternoon, that the trimming happened “where workers, writers and actors are exercising their right to picket,” adding that these trees aren’t NBCUniversal property at all and are instead managed by the city of L.A.
He also noted that businesses can apply for a permit to trim trees, but normal maintenance is conducted by a StreetsLA Urban Forestry Division crew or as part of a Council Districts allotment of trees to trim. He also added that trees should be trimmed every five years, which was underscored by attached photos showing what the trees looked like before and after NBCU had the trees trimmed, which indicated they had not meaningfully become overgrown. You can find those images at the top of this page.
Meija conceded, however, that a 2019 StreetsLA audit revealed several technological and resource deficiencies that had caused severe delays in trimming cycles in parts of the city.
Earlier, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA filed complaints against NBCU with the National Labor Relations Board, accusing the company of erecting fences around construction projects adjacent to the street in order to block access to the sidewalk near the studio gate.
“We strongly believe that the company has fulfilled our legal obligations under the National Labor Relations Act [NLRA] and we will cooperate with respect to any inquiries by the National Labor Relations Board on this issue,” NBCUniversal said in a statement. “While we understand the timing of our multi-year construction project has created challenges for demonstrators, we continue to work with public agencies to increase access.”
Addressing the trees specifically, Universal said in a statement, “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.
Helen Shang, a WGA strike captain, noted that in their statement, Universal appeared to confirm that it didn’t receive a permit to trim the trees.
The City Controller is the paymaster, auditor and chief accounting officer for the city of Los Angeles, with a mandate to provide transparency on city policies, operations and data.
