Hollywood studios avoid further strike through preliminary deal with IATSE

Hollywood may have narrowly avoided another summer of strikes thanks to a preliminary agreement between the IATSE union and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

The union, which represents 170,000 technicians, artists and craftspeople in the entertainment industry, told its members in a letter on Tuesday evening that the proposed changes include increases in general salaries, overtime pay and streaming royalties.

“Hourly workers will receive triple pay (3x hourly rate) if more than 15 hours have passed in a workday, all on-call workers will now receive double pay on the seventh day of the workweek, and additional wage increases will go into effect for non-dramatic productions under the Videotape Supplemental Agreement,” the letter states.

The basic agreement will also include new protections for artificial intelligence, “including language that ensures that no worker will be required to give AI requests in a way that would result in the dismissal of an affected worker.”

Members are expected to review the provisional agreement and vote on ratification in the next two weeks.

In May Rolling Stone spoke to a dozen crew members who work in the industry about their concerns about safety on set as the union negotiates its new contracts. All 12 said they hoped the union would prioritize standardized safety inspections and limits on the length of a workday.

“Your pay doesn’t matter if you can’t make it home at night,” said Malakhi Simmons, a lighting technician who is vice president of IATSE Local 728 and a member of the bargaining committee. Rolling Stone at the time. “I think what needs to change is the culture. There’s a culture in our industry that says ‘just get it done and get on with it’ … We need to change the culture of those who plan these long days, because with better planning, a lot of this can be avoided.”

It’s been a chaotic few years across the entertainment industry, marked by uncertainty and a lack of job security. From the COVID pandemic that brought productions to a halt and dramatically impacted Hollywood’s business to the WGA and SAG’s twin strikes last summer, not to mention the changing landscape of studios and streamers, there hasn’t exactly been much stability. With IATSE’s tentative new deal, there’s hope that productions won’t stall and the industry can maintain its momentum, although what lies ahead for Hollywood remains to be seen.