A ratification vote was pending today on a proposed new labor contract for roughly 50,000 Hollywood film and TV crew members, a deal that would avert another potentially devastating entertainment industry work stoppage.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers announced the tentative deal Tuesday night.
For some, it's a hint of good news in an industry that still hasn't recovered from last year's crippling strikes.
"I’m extremely gratified and relieved to hear of the tentative agreement," said film editor Molly Shock. "Yes I wish it could be higher but its certainly been more than we’ve gotten in the past."
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The deal still needs the approval of union members. A timeline for that vote has not yet been announced.
IATSE officials said full details of the proposed agreement would be released to union members in the coming days, and a union webinar was being planned for July 13 to review the pact.
"The work was slow all the way through 2023 so they put us in a position of accepting things that we wouldn’t accept if it was standard work as usual," said Joe Martinez, who works in prop shop specials effects. "The devil is in the details we’ll know more July 13 when they give us a summary."
"Some of the proposed changes in the basic tentative agreement include scale rate increases of 7%, 4% and 3.5% over the three-year term,'' according to IATSE. "Hourly workers will receive triple time when any workday exceeds 15 elapsed hours, all on-call classifications will now receive double time on the seventh day of the workweek, and additional increases in pay will take effect on non-dramatic productions under the Videotape Supplemental Agreement.
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"The tentative deal includes new protections around artificial intelligence, including language that ensures no employee is required to provide AI prompts in any manner that would result in the displacement of any
covered employee.''
Workers represented by IATSE include hairstylists, camera operators, makeup artists, costume designers and other craft workers. The union's current contract with the studios was set to expire July 31.
The pending end of the contract raised some fears in Hollywood about another possible strike, coming on the heels of last year's walkouts by the Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America that brought production to a
halt.
"The industry has been suffering from one blow after another," said entertainment attorney, Jonathan Handel. "It's never going to go back to the way it was but this deal does put Hollywood back on track for increased production."
The Teamsters union, which represents nearly 4,000 workers -- including drivers, mechanics, and other tradespeople -- is still in negotiation with the studios, with its contract also set to expire July 31.
