Labor Strike Not Over Yet in Hollywood as Crew Members Start Negotiating with Studios
Hollywood has yet to shake off the effects of last year’s dual strikes, and a new labor showdown is unfolding. With the motto “Many crafts, one fight,” the behind-the-scenes crews could be next to challenge Studios and streamers.
On March 4th, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), Teamsters, and the Hollywood Basic Crafts began negotiations with The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for a fair contract renewal as the current one expires on July 31st. Over the next few months, the three organizations will bargain together over health and pension benefits, but also separately, over more specific issues, with the hope of having the deals ratified by the deadline.
“We are not afraid to strike,” the president of the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters, Sean O’Brien, said aloud, speaking to a rally of more than 2,000 crew members on the vigil of the negotiation kick-off. “If these greedy corporations — whether it’s Amazon, Netflix, Sony… Disney — choose not to reward our members, they are putting themselves on strike. We will put them on their back, on their knees, begging for mercy.”
Matthew Loeb, the president of IATSE – a confederation founded in 1893 now representing over 170,000 workers – struck a more moderate tone, repeatedly emphasizing, “There’s enough to go around.” He also addressed one of the key issues in the negotiations — artificial intelligence — saying it should not be used to replace workers. “If that efficiency comes, it needs to come to us and our jobs. And we will use that to do our jobs better,” he claimed.
Hollywood is holding its breath as meetings continue behind closed doors at the AMPTP headquarters in Sherman Oaks. Among workers in the industry, solidarity is strong and clear. “We fully support them, obviously, as they did with us,” Fran Drescher, the president of the actor’s guild, on the picket for 118 days last year, told The Associated Press on the Oscars red carpet. One hour later, in front of an enormous global audience, host Jimmy Kimmel devoted part of his opening monologue to vowing support to union members and those working behind the scenes: “Thank you for standing with us,” Kimmel said. “And also, we want you to know that in your upcoming negotiations, we will stand with you too.”
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Hollywood has yet to shake off the effects of last year’s dual strikes, and a new labor showdown is unfolding. With the motto “Many crafts, one fight,” the behind-the-scenes crews could be next to challenge Studios and streamers.
On March 4th, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), Teamsters, and the Hollywood Basic Crafts began negotiations with The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers for a fair contract renewal as the current one expires on July 31st. Over the next few months, the three organizations will bargain together over health and pension benefits, but also separately, over more specific issues, with the hope of having the deals ratified by the deadline.
“We are not afraid to strike,” the president of the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters, Sean O’Brien, said aloud, speaking to a rally of more than 2,000 crew members on the vigil of the negotiation kick-off. “If these greedy corporations — whether it’s Amazon, Netflix, Sony… Disney — choose not to reward our members, they are putting themselves on strike. We will put them on their back, on their knees, begging for mercy.”
Matthew Loeb, the president of IATSE – a confederation founded in 1893 now representing over 170,000 workers – struck a more moderate tone, repeatedly emphasizing, “There’s enough to go around.” He also addressed one of the key issues in the negotiations — artificial intelligence — saying it should not be used to replace workers. “If that efficiency comes, it needs to come to us and our jobs. And we will use that to do our jobs better,” he claimed.
Hollywood is holding its breath as meetings continue behind closed doors at the AMPTP headquarters in Sherman Oaks. Among workers in the industry, solidarity is strong and clear. “We fully support them, obviously, as they did with us,” Fran Drescher, the president of the actor’s guild, on the picket for 118 days last year, told The Associated Press on the Oscars red carpet. One hour later, in front of an enormous global audience, host Jimmy Kimmel devoted part of his opening monologue to vowing support to union members and those working behind the scenes: “Thank you for standing with us,” Kimmel said. “And also, we want you to know that in your upcoming negotiations, we will stand with you too.”
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Share:
The Silent Challenge of Decaying Movie and TV Show Files in Digital EntertainmentOpenAI's Sora Converts Textual Input into Realistic Video Content
