Tragedy frames vote on Hollywood contract
Concerns about job safety take center stage
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.
Voting started Friday on a tentative three-year agreement reached by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and a trade group representing producers, and Brashear and Tannahill planned to 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 long-entrenched 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 firstever national strike. While it’s generally “a win of a contract,” it falls short on a majority of safety-related 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, Tannahill said it’s emblematic of the industry’s 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 resulting debilitating fatigue. A 1997 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 toe to 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. Electronic voting concludes Sunday, and the result is expected Monday.
IATSE represents about 150,000 behind-the-scenes workers, including stagehands, cinematographers, costumers and others employed in all forms of entertainment, from movies and TV to theater, concerts, trade shows and broadcasting.
Two proposed contracts are at stake for 60,000 union members. One primarily covers film and TV production on the West Coast and applies to about twothirds of those members; the other is for production hubs including New Mexico and Georgia.
The agreements include across-theboard wage increases and increased compensation paid by streaming services, Loeb said in a statement.
Loeb also said that “quality-of-life issues were at the top of our priority list,” with the proposed contracts establishing a defined weekend rest period and imposing “stiff” penalties if meals and breaks aren’t provided.
The 98% strike-vote approval is credited by the union with building urgency for studios to reach a deal. The union had threatened to strike on Oct. 18 if the sides failed to reach an agreement, which was reached Oct. 16.
That activist spirit stoked by the strike authorization campaign remains unabated for some, even as the union encourages a “yes” vote.
“People are being more critical of contract language, especially younger workers who are really engaged in social media and using the internet for factfinding,” said Tannahill. Last weekend, a town hall she organized for union members to discuss the contract drew more than 500 in person or online, she estimated.
Producer Tom Nunan, whose credits include the Oscar-winning “Crash,” said there’s more heightened debate this year than in the past. But he expects ratification, citing precedent and workers’ eagerness for rules addressing safety.
“This is going to get approved by the membership. They’ve never balked in the face of leadership recommending (approval), and I don’t see that this will be the exception,” said Nunan, a lecturer at the University of California, Los Angeles, School of Theater, Film and Television. “The progress that the team made on behalf of IATSE is spectacular by any measure.”