Universal under investigation after it trimmed trees that shaded SAG-AFTRA protesters | CNN Business
The Los Angeles City Controller’s office is investigating after NBCUniversal severely trimmed a row of trees outside its studios where members of SAG-AFTRA were picketing company executives, eliminating shade during a searing heatwave.
https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/19/business/sag-aftra-strike-universal-la-trees/index.htmlOpen linkView original on kbin.social
10 replies
Imagine being so petty about people walking out that you decide to vandalize trees for no reason other than to "get at" the people who are voicing their concern.
Like, it's some playbook "evil villain" shit.
Those will probably end up being the most expensive trees they've ever fucked with.
Edit: Clearly @Hellsadvocate appreciates making things difficult for unions.
Sadly, the citation fee for this only starts at $250, which isn’t even a rounding error to Universal.
https://twitter.com/lacontroller/status/1681690208486703105?s=46&t=EUtgwMByNj4sQbVP9INV-Q
Don't fuck around with tree law kids. Tree law'll fuck you up.
Especially since it's likely that on doing so they killed the trees. We're still in the middle of summer and they took away all the leaves and what appears to be a decent section of ancillary limbs that help keep the tree alive. They're not gonna be able to make their food while they bake in the sun
I can't speak for California's climate, but yeah you don't trim trees until their leaves fall in autumn/early winter. That won't stop Universal from claiming it was "routine groundskeeping" but it won't fool anyone.
From the images I could find, it looks like they trimmed 5 trees. If the trees die, LA County can fine them up to $18,000 (according to a quick Google) per tree or $90k for all 5 - that's basically couch cushion money for Universal.
That is so damn petty.