Hollywood union reaches deal with studios, averting a strike
3-year crew contract awaits workers’ OK
LOS ANGELES — The union representing Hollywood crews has reached an agreement on a new contract with the major studios, avoiding a historic strike that would have disrupted film and TV production nationwide.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have concluded an agreement on a three-year contract covering about 60,000 film and TV industry workers, said several people familiar with the negotiations who were not authorized to comment.
The alliance represents the major Hollywood studios, such as Walt Disney and Warner Bros., along with newcomers Apple, Amazon and Netflix.
An agreement ends a standoff that would have led to the first nationwide strike in the union’s 128year history and the first major strike by crews since World War II.
The proposed contract, which is subject to approval by the union’s members, would include modest wage increases in line with other Hollywood union contracts and a commitment to cover a $400 million deficit in the union’s health and pension plans. It also addresses long-standing complaints about long hours, requiring a minimum turnaround time of 10 hours between shoots and 54 hours’ rest over the weekend.
Variety first reported that a breakthrough in negotiations came after the sides worked late Friday, with entertainment attorney Ken Ziffren and senior Disney executive Peter Rice playing important roles in bridging differences between the sides.
The deal was greeted with a sigh of relief across Hollywood, which was on edge over the prospect of shutdown that would have upended planned film and TV shoots.
A walkout would have had a significant effect on the film and TV industry that is a major employer in Southern California and other production hubs nationwide, including New York City, Atlanta, Chicago and Albuquerque. The last major labor dispute in Hollywood — the 2007-08 writers strike — lasted 100 days and sparked lasting changes to the industry.
Studios — still recovering from heavy losses sustained by shutdowns and movie theater closures — have been eager to ramp up productions that were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The threatened walkout caught some studio executives by surprise.
IATSE, which represents camera operators, grips, prop makers, set dressers, makeup artists and many other specialized technical workers, historically has avoided public confrontations with studios. The union has traditionally preferred to quietly negotiate early agreements with their employers to avoid rocking the boat and keeping their members working.
But this time around, the union’s leaders recognized they had substantial leverage against the studios.
They knew that traditional media companies were loathe to endure another crippling production shutdown, potentially losing even more ground to rival Netflix and other streaming services.
Some of these same companies also have launched their own streaming services — WarnerMedia has HBO Max, NBCUniversal has Peacock and ViacomCBS has Paramount+ — and they desperately need original TV shows and movies to attract their own subscribers.
In addition, these same companies that own broadcast networks —CBS, NBC, ABC, CW and Fox — have been trying to regain their footing during the current fall TV season.
The networks feared another work stoppage would contribute to further ratings declines by interrupting the production of popular shows like CBS’ “Young Sheldon,” ABC’s “Dancing With the Stars” and “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” and NBC’s “The Voice.”
“The business is finally starting to crawl out of the hole that we’ve been in.”