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On Monday, the International Alliance of Theatrical Employees (IATSE) revealed that tens of thousands of its members had voted to authorize a strike against the film and television industry. For the first time in the union’s 128-year history, members – more than 98% of them, in fact – voted to authorize a possible work stoppage of teams nationwide.
The “yes” does not trigger a strike but instead authorizes the international president of the union to call one if deemed necessary in the ongoing negotiations with the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP) for several contracts. It’s a powerful bargaining chip, as current contract negotiations affect around 60,000 workers in the industry, including grips, cinematographers, hairdressers, makeup artists, writing assistants and more. nationwide. But even as negotiations between AMPTP and the union continue to fail – IATSE and AMPTP return to the bargaining table on Tuesday – and IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb calls for the strike, some projects would be directly affected while others might not see a mass work stoppage.
Which would probably be impacted: Projects in the crosshairs of a potential strike are those produced under three different contracts: the Basic Agreement, the Regional Standards Agreement (the last two extensions expired on September 10) and the Videotape Agreement (which expired September 30). Major movies and TV shows are produced under base and area standards agreements, by companies such as CBS Studios, Columbia Pictures Industries, Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures, among others. (The base agreement covers both the West Coast and some national locals; the regional standards agreement generally covers workers employed in areas other than New York and Los Angeles.) The base agreement also covers producing projects for streamers like Netflix, Apple TV, Paramount + and Disney +. Workers on content covered by the videotape deal like reality shows, game shows and talk shows from companies like ABC Signature Studios and Cartoon Network Studios would also suspend their work in the event of a strike.
What cannot be affected: A strike would likely not affect productions related to the union’s trade deal (in effect until September 30, 2022), the low budget deal (which is in effect December 31, 2022) and the deal. on pay TV (until December 31, 2022), so that union members operating under these contracts can continue to work. “These contracts are not up for negotiation at the moment and, for the most part, they are also different employers,” said a union insider. As a result, union team members working on commercials, union productions budgeted under $ 15 million, and projects produced by HBO, Showtime, Starz and Cinemax for their cable channels would likely continue to show up for work.
In a recent meeting, the leadership of the Motion Pictures Editors Guild (Local 700) further told members that installation agreements with different expiration dates would remain in effect if IATSE went on strike, including included for Lucasfilm Skywalker Sound, Deluxe Digital Cinema and Burbank post-production facilities. Level 3. They also reported that Vice Media in New York and Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta have separate post-production agreements.
“There will be disruptions in all sectors of the industry [if there is a strike]Said Local 600 National Executive Director Rebecca Rhine Hollywood journalist. “The pay TV deal is very narrow in what it covers and we will not allow the deals to be used to circumvent a strike. Each production will be examined carefully to ensure that it is placed correctly and that nothing is used as a workaround. At the end of the day, what you want is a quick resolution, and obviously the first thing to do is get back to the negotiating table to make a deal.
“It’s not a single issue and obviously it’s not a single contract, it’s about the future of workers in this industry, no matter what job they do,” said the national president. from Local 600 John Lindley, adding that during the pandemic, “we learned that they [the AMPTP signatories] can run profitable businesses while providing safe working conditions.
Members of IATSE Local 839, The Animation Guild, would also likely not be involved in a strike, if it did happen. Negotiations for their framework agreement have been postponed (no date has been set for the parties to begin talks) due to the standoff between AMPTP and West Coast locals. Although their deal was originally scheduled to expire in July, it was extended until October 30. counterparts under other contracts.)
Animation Guild Sales Representative Steve Kaplan notes that the language of the upcoming IATSE Base Agreement will affect Animation Guild, however. The Guild’s framework agreement “refers” to the language of the Basic Agreement regarding the film industry’s pension and health plans, thus “our health plan and our retirement depend on the IATSE which is negotiating a favorable basic agreement with AMPTP, ”he said. Additionally, the Guild cannot negotiate their deal until a basic deal has been made.
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