By IWU-FI, 14 October 2021
Behind-the-scenes professionals in the US and Canada complain they work long shifts, with no breaks for sufficient food or sleep, and no rest days during the week.
IATSE, the main entertainment industry union in the United States and Canada, announced Wednesday that its nearly 60,000 members will go on strike next Monday if it does not agree with Hollywood studios to improve their working conditions.
The strike, which was approved by 98 per cent of members on 4 October, would bring most of US productions to a complete halt, especially in California, but also in other key states such as Georgia, New Mexico and New York.
“The pace of negotiations does not reflect any urgency. Without an end date, we could talk forever. Our members want their needs to be addressed now,” said union president Matthew Loeb in a statement.
Without a pact, the strike would begin at noon Los Angeles time (19:00 GMT) on Monday.
IATSE (International Alliance of Stage Employees) represents most of the workers behind the scenes in the United States and Canada, including lighting and sound technicians, camera operators, set designers and make-up artists.
Most of its members are on temporary contracts with studios, usually tied to a specific project, and the terms of their contract are set according to guidelines agreed between the union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), the umbrella organisation for studios and television networks in the United States.
For some time now, these professionals have been claiming that they work long shifts, with no breaks for sufficient food or sleep, and no rest days during the week.
The union is also demanding higher wages for employees on the lowest pay scale in the industry and better employer contributions to private health insurance and pension plans, one of the major problems facing freelancers in the United States.
They also want to erase a previous agreement that allows streaming companies, such as Netflix and Amazon, to pay less than traditional studios.
“It is incomprehensible that the AMPTP, an outfit that includes media megacorporations collectively worth billions of dollars, claims it cannot provide crews with basic human needs like sufficient sleep, meal breaks and living wages,” the union said on Twitter.
A halt to filming would hurt major Hollywood studios, which have countless backlogs because of the coronavirus and have invested in platforms such as Disney+ and HBO Max, whose business model needs a steady stream of new content to keep subscribers.
A spokesperson for the bosses again insisted that “they will go on negotiating to come up with a new contract that allows the industry to continue its work,” The Hollywood Reporter said.
The last strike in Hollywood was called in 2017 by the screenwriters’ union and disrupted filming and television broadcasts for 100 days. IATSE, which encompasses a wider range of professionals, has not called a strike in its over 120-year history.
