LA Strikes Embody Widespread Anxiety Over Worker Pay, Rise of AI

LOS ANGELES — Chelly grinned as he watched a mob of fellow actors picketing outside Netflix Inc. studios on Sunset Boulevard, earning honks and cheers from passing cars. On the strike line one clear morning last week, they could see the end of the Hollywood sign peeking out from behind a building across the street, a reminder of the actors and writers who came before them.

Fifty-seven miles north in the high desert town of Palmdale, Calif., Jessie Moreno manned another picket line. This one had fewer people—about two dozen who had formed the first Amazon.com Inc. drivers’ union earlier ...