An IATSE Strike is Looming in the Motion Picture and Television Markets

After months of negotiating successor contracts to the Producer-IATSE Basic Agreement and the Theatrical and Television Motion Picture Area Standards Agreement, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) announced last week that it wouldn't make any counteroffer to the IATSE's most recent proposal.

The sticking points in the negotiation include:

• Excessively unsafe and harmful working hours.
• Unlivable wages for the lowest paid crafts.
• Consistent failure to provide reasonable rest during meal breaks, between workdays, and on weekends.
• Workers on certain "new media" streaming projects get paid less, even on productions with budgets that rival or exceed those of traditionally released blockbusters.

In a statement, the union said, "It is incomprehensible that the AMPTP, an ensemble that includes media mega-corporations collectively worth trillions of dollars, claims it cannot provide behind-the-scenes crews with basic human necessities like adequate sleep, meal breaks, and living wages. Worse, management does not appear to even recognize our core issues as problems that exist in the first place.

"These issues are real for the workers in our industry and change is long overdue. However, the explosion of streaming combined with the pandemic has elevated and aggravated working conditions, bringing 60,000 behind-the-scenes workers covered by these contracts to a breaking point. We risked our health and safety all year, working through the pandemic to ensure that our business emerged intact. Now, we cannot and will not accept a deal that leaves us with an unsustainable outcome.

In response to the AMPTP's tactics, IATSE members are mobilizing in preparation for a nationwide strike authorization vote to demonstrate our commitment to achieving the change that is long overdue in this industry."

Yesterday, the national executive board (NEB) of the International Cinematographers Guild (ICG, IATSE Local 600) voted unanimously to support the nationwide strike authorization vote and to recommend members vote yes.

ICG national president John Lindley said, "The elected leaders of Local 600 spoke with one voice today on behalf of the thousands of their members who are unified in their resolve to get a fair deal from the employers who have walked away from the bargaining table."

Rebecca Rhine, ICG national executive director, added, "This fight is about basic rights and safe and healthy working conditions. Nobody wants to go on strike, but we have been given little choice by companies that are earning record profits off our members' labor but are unwilling to treat those same workers with dignity and respect."

According to Deadline, the union wrote California legislators, saying, "a strike would effectively shut down California state film and television production, and adding "it is both outrageous and immoral that the studios oppose basic worker rights, an opposition that may lead to a highly successful industry's shutdown." A letter to New York state legislators noted, "a strike would effectively shut down a majority of New York state's film and television production industry."

Such a strike has never happened before. According to The Hill, the vote may happen on October 1, with results being released October 4.