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IATSE hopes to wrap up region-specific negotiations with studios this week before the guild turns its attention to general contract negotiations.
Only three locals remain to sign a tentative agreement with the Motion Picture and Television Producers Alliance on the issue of artifacts. Local 44 and Local 705 are scheduled to begin negotiations on Monday, and Local 884 will likely be the last to begin negotiations later this week.
Deadline argues that local consultations should take place by the end of this week to give the negotiating committee an extra week to meet before negotiations begin on a basic agreement on April 29.
So far, things are going very well for IATSE, and “we’re sensing momentum that negotiations are going like clockwork in some cases,” a union source told Deadline.
“At this point, there’s a sense that both sides came to negotiate a deal and we’re watching it play out,” the source added.
This year, AMPTP and IATSE agreed to operate on a strategy of “two locals negotiating at the same time at any time” to enable multi-day negotiations in each region. This was driven, at least in part, by the fact that West Coast locals were unable to negotiate on ship-specific issues in 2020 due to the pandemic, and therefore had not addressed many deal points in six years.
Union officials called the extension of time a “positive sign”, noting that there is still plenty of time left for negotiations.
General consultations on basic agreements, together with negotiations on regional standards agreements, make up a large part of the deal and cover issues that affect all member states, such as wage increases, pensions and health insurance premiums, artificial intelligence, job security and retention. included.
Deadline has heard that none of the local residents’ proposals included AI, and the union expects it to be a “point of contention” along with residuals.
Mentioning AI or residuals in the context of labor negotiations would send a shiver down the spine of most people in Hollywood after last year’s double strike, largely due to those very subjects. The Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA both led historic work stoppages that lasted more than 100 days and achieved significant results on both fronts. However, the strike was not without its costs for the industry as a whole.
No one seems particularly keen on a summer strike as all of Hollywood weathers the current tightening, but bottom-line workers are determined to get their own contracts, and other unions appear to be supporting them. is.
Teamsters Local 399 boss Lindsay Doherty appeared at Sunday’s WGA Awards to signal continued unity among the guilds, which was completely unheard of until last year.
People on the margins have come out in droves to support the writers and actors on the picket lines, and they are now showing the same loyalty in return. Even Jimmy Kimmel praised them at the Oscars ceremony, and Hollywood workers vowed to support them regardless of the outcome of the negotiations.
Currently, neither IATSE nor Basic Crafts has voted to authorize a strike, which is a change from last year, when the WGA had already received authorization and approached the table. However, IATSE has already made it clear that it is not interested in extending the contract beyond its current expiration date of July 31.
IATSE is approaching the public consultation with “cautious optimism” given the developments in recent weeks, sources told Deadline.
“AMPTP’s actions so far have been one of understanding the situation and being willing to negotiate,” the official said, highlighting the difference from last year’s negotiations with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, in which both sides agreed.Right off the bat, there was no movement or ability to find common ground there…I think [the AMPTP has] I learned a lesson from that. ”
Negotiations on the basic agreement are expected to continue until mid-May, at which point IATSE will continue negotiating regional standard agreements covering an additional 23 IATSE locals across the United States.
The Teamsters and the rest of Hollywood Basic Crafts plan to hold negotiations in June, but will soon reconvene with IATSE to address the pension and health care proposals they jointly presented to AMPTP in March. It’s planned.
All contracts are currently scheduled to expire on July 31st.
