Hollywood crews and studios tentatively agree on a contract, making another major strike unlikely

The union that represents most behind-the-scenes film and television crews has reached a tentative agreement with studios for about 50,000 of its members, ending another major strike that will bring production to a halt after a year of Labor unrest in Hollywood.

The two sides announced the three-year contract in a joint statement on Tuesday evening.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union told its members, who still have to approve the deal, in an email that the agreement includes the pay increases and protections for artificial intelligence they have been demanding.

The contract, known as the “Basic Agreement,” affects approximately 50,000 crew members who belong to 13 different union associations on the West Coast, including art directors, set painters, editors, camera technicians, costume designers, hairdressers and makeup artists.

A separate agreement affecting around 20,000 crew members nationwide is currently being negotiated.

The grueling writers and Actors’ strikesAnd IATSE Talks 2021 which went far beyond the expiry date of the contract and almost resulted in a strike, had raised fears that 2024 further work interruptions in an industry that is still has not yet fully returned to work after being closed for much of 2023.

Actors such as Mark Ruffalo and Kerry Washington sent a letter to the AMPTP last week demanding fair contracts for the crews.

Several individual branches had already concluded separate agreements on issues specific to them. The basic agreement concerns crew members of various professions.

The IATSE reached an agreement Tuesday night with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents studios, streaming services and production companies including Disney, Netflix, Warner Bros. Discovery and Amazon Prime. It’s the same alliance that struggled to reach an agreement with writers and actors during lengthy strikes last year. But the tentative agreement on the base deal came nearly a month before the previous contract was set to expire.

The letter to IATSE members said more details of the tentative agreement would be released later this week, but it “includes new artificial intelligence protections, including language that ensures no employee is required to make AI requests in a manner that would result in the termination of an affected employee.”

It also includes wage increases of 7%, 4% and 3.5% over the three-year term, tripling work hours for workers who work more than 15 hours a day and payments from studios to make up a shortfall in the union’s health insurance budget, the letter said.