Film crew union narrowly approves contract with producers

LOS ANGELES >> Film industry crew members have narrowly voted to approve a pair of contracts with Hollywood producers after a standoff that came within days of a strike that would have frozen productions across the U.S., union leaders said Monday.

The agreements passed 56% to 44% among delegates from the 36 local unions of the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees in the voting system that resembles the U.S. Electoral College.

But in the popular vote, 50.3% said yes and 49.7% no of the approximately 45,000 members who cast a ballot in voting held from Friday through Sunday.

The razor-thin total stood in contrast to the last vote from union members, in which 98% approved giving union leaders the authority to call a strike.

A victorious “no” vote would have reopened negotiations and brought back the possibility of a strike.

There was joy and relief among many members when the three-year deal was reached with producers on Oct. 16, two days before a strike deadline.

But many others were disillusioned with the details, saying the contracts didn’t go far enough to address issues like long workdays that may lack breaks or lunch, and the debilitating fatigue it causes.

The vote took place in the shadow of the shooting that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza on the New Mexico set of the film “Rust.”

Alec Baldwin, the film’s star-producer who fired the gun, called it a “one-in-a-trillion event,” but many felt like the incident was emblematic of the industry’s corner-cutting and critical flaws.

According to the union, core safety and economic issues are addressed in the proposed agreements covering workers on film and TV productions.

The agreements include across-the board wage increases and increased compensation paid by streaming services, who had long been allowed lower pay rates, union leaders said.