The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) are set to re-enter negotiations after the former’s landslide victory in securing authorization votes for a strike, on Monday.
This is the first time in IATSE’s 128-year history that members of the union have authorized a nationwide strike. IATSE comprises over 1,50,000 off-screen workers in the entertainment industry in US and Canada and its members going on a strike could result in the total halt of several major film and television productions.
“The members have spoken loud and clear,” said IATSE President Matthew Loeb in a statement after more than 98 percent of its members voted in support of strike authorization. “This vote is about the quality of life as well as the health and safety of those who work in the film and television industry. Our people have basic human needs like time for meal breaks, adequate sleep, and a weekend. For those at the bottom of the pay scale, they deserve nothing less than a living wage,” he said.
Loeb said that he notified the producer’s association on Monday morning itself. “The ball is in their court. If they want to avoid a strike, they will return to the bargaining table and make us a reasonable offer.”
For several months, IATSE had been trying to negotiate contracts, addressing problems in workplaces, with the AMPTP, that represents the studios such as Netflix, Disney, and Amazon.
“[The AMPTP] remains committed to reaching an agreement that will keep the industry working. We deeply value our IATSE crew members and are committed to working with them to avoid shutting down the industry at such a pivotal time, particularly since the industry is still recovering from the economic fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. A deal can be made at the bargaining table, but it will require both parties working together in good faith with a willingness to compromise and to explore new solutions to resolve the open issues,” read AMPTP’s statement that was released a few hours after the ballot results were announced.
On September 21, the AMPTP had announced that it did not “intend to make any counter-offer to the IATSE’s most recent proposal.”
Consequently, IATSE President, Matthew Loeb, called for a strike vote for authorization. An online petition has been circulating since, to garner as many signatures as possible.
The petition is directed towards addressing workplace problems, including, unsafe and harmful working hours, low wages, absence of reasonable rest during meal breaks, weekends, and workdays, among others.
The petition says that “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.”
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Apart from several technicians’ organizations that have voiced their support for the movement, the Sundance Institute, curator of the Sundance Film Festival also expressed support, along with The Black House Foundation, Pop Culture Collaborative, Film Fatales, Think Tank for Inclusion and Equity, Women in Film, Muslim Public Affairs Council- Hollywood Bureau, and New York Women in Film and Television.
Hollywood organizations, including the Directors Guild of America, the Writers Guild of America (West), the Producers Guild of America, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Screen Actors Guild- American federation of Television and Radio Artists, and the International Cinematographers Guild, also acknowledged the need for favorable working conditions and supported the strike authorization vote.