‘Rust’ tragedy, labor climate frame contract vote
LOS ANGELES >> In weighing his vote on a proposed union contract with Hollywood producers, veteran stagehand Matthew “Doc” Brashear looked closely at the agreement and beyond, to the now-closed New Mexico film set where a cinematographer died.
For crew member Brandy Tannahill, the fatal “Rust” shooting of Halyna Hutchins and the resurgence of labor actions, such as the strikes at John Deere and Kellogg, are bolstering her decision.
When voting starts Friday on a tentative threeyear agreement reached by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and a trade group representing producers, Brashear and Tannahill say they will vote no.
With forces from the pandemic to the economy also framing union members’ views, bread-and-butter issues of wages and pensions remain important. But longentrenched concerns about danger on the job have taken on increased urgency.
“I think the elected (union) leaders gave their all,” Brashear said of the proposed deal that averted the union’s first-ever national strike. While it’s generally “a win of a contract,” it falls short on a majority of safetyrelated issues, he said.
“Most of what we are fighting for is to just be able to spend time with our family and, if we work a 16-hour day, to make it home safe to our families,” said Brashear, a lighting programmer in Southern California.
While some point to the “Rust” shooting that injured director Joel Souza and killed cinematographer Hutchins as an outlier — Alec Baldwin, the film’s star-producer who fired the gun, called it a “one-ina-trillion event” — Tannahill said it’s emblematic of the industry’s critical flaws.
“There has been an understandable emotional response to what occurred,” she said. “But the underlying issue that screams to me, as someone in this business, is that the production got to the point where it was because of the producers cutting corners.”
The burdens that union members point to include long workdays that may lack breaks or lunch, and the debilitating fatigue that causes both on and off the job. A 1987 tragedy remains vivid: Brent Hershman, 35, an assistant cameraman on the film “Pleasantville,” died in a crash while driving home after a 19-hour workday.
“Those are the things that make the news,” said Tannahill, but she knows four people who dozed off at the wheel and either narrowly avoided or survived an accident. She’s been working since 2011 as a grip, with duties including setting up lighting.
According to the union, core safety and economic issues are addressed in the proposed agreements covering workers on film and TV productions.
“This is a Hollywood ending,” IATSE International President Matthew Loeb said in announcing a deal last month. “We went toeto-toe with some of the most powerful entertainment and tech companies in the world” to achieve a contract that “meets our members’ needs.”
The bargaining committees of all 36 local unions have unanimously recommended ratification.