Below-the-line workers in Hollywood represented by IATSE, Teamsters and other trade unions sat down Monday with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), beginning the first step in a lengthy contract negotiation process.
If the unions can’t reach a deal with the AMPTP by the time the current contract expires on July 31, IATSE’s negotiating committee may call for a strike authorization vote.
And if ultimately a strike vote were to pass, below-the-line workers including motion picture animators, camera operators and production technicians would stop work until a new tentative agreement is reached.
Sound familiar?
In addition to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Teamsters Local 399, the other guilds participating in joint negotiations are the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 40 (IBEW), Laborers International Union of North America Local 724 (LiUNA!), United Association Plumbers Local 78 (UA) and Operating Plasterers & Cement Masons International Association (OPCMIA) Local 755.
All of the aforementioned groups' contracts expire on July 31, and IATSE has already stated it's “not interested in extending this agreement.” But considering the complexity of negotiations with this many unions, forging an agreement with the AMPTP could prove trickier than what transpired last year with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, which both conducted paralyzing strikes lasting through the summer.
Covering more than 60,000 industry members, IATSE has two sets of contracts on the table: the Basic Agreement, which encompasses 13 of the union’s local Hollywood constituencies; and the Area Standards Agreement, which covers 26 locals outside of Los Angeles. Negotiation for the Area Standards agreement are expected to begin later in April.
IATSE underwent a difficult contract negotiation in 2021, taking multiple bargaining extensions, and only ratified a new deal after a six-month long process.
IATSE’s extensions in the last bargaining process also delayed the Teamsters’ negotiations -- the group didn't begin talks with the AMPTP until December, almost six months after its contract’s expiration date.
Wages are sure to be a focal point of negotiations, especially given the effects of inflation, pandemic-related shutdowns and work stoppages due to last summer’s strikes.
The guilds will begin by trading initial proposals for the basic agreement, and update membership with regular developments at the table, according to IATSE’s website.
Once those general negotiations finish, the other unions will step aside as each of IATSE’s 13 local unions have the chance to bargain on the terms of their guild’s basic agreement during the next several weeks.
Union members then have to vote again to decide whether to ratify the proposed deal.
While it’s liable to be a lengthy negotiation process, both sides are likely hesitant to initiate another work stoppage after last year’s summer of strikes cost an estimated $6 billion in lost wages and business impacts across California and other production-heavy states, according to Reuters.
