Possible strike threatens to halt the North American entertainment industry

Oct 22, 2021 | Arts

A deal at the eleventh-hour was reached on Oct. 16 between the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), potentially avoiding a strike.

IATSE, the union that represents thousands of crew members across film and TV productions, threatened to strike after following an overwhelming vote supporting a walk-out, according to a news release from its official website. No date has been set yet for a ratification vote.

The news release said IATSE was demanding improvements to unsafe working hours (a minimum of 10 hours between turnaround and a 54-hour weekend), low wages, consistent meal breaks and workers who are on “new media” streaming projects to be paid improved wages in line with their film and TV production counterparts.

“Our people have basic human needs like time for meal breaks, adequate sleep, and a weekend,” said Matthew Loeb, IATSE International President, said in a news release. “For those at the bottom of the pay scale, they deserve nothing less than a living wage.”

If a deal was not reached, the first strike in IATSE’s 128-year history would affect productions across the United States and North America.

The tentative agreement includes improved wages, including “a living wage for the lowest-paid earners,” better working conditions for streaming, retroactive wage increases of three per cent annually, increased meal period penalties, daily rest periods of 10 hours without exclusions, and weekend rest periods of 54 hours. The deal also adds Martin Luther King Jr.’s Day along with the adoption of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, the news release said.

Gruelling hours and less turnaround time between days for sleep are among the many issues film productions face and are seeking to remedy. PHOTO CREDIT/ BRAND & PEOPLE COURTESY OF UNSPLASH

Jessica Bay, a doctorate candidate in Communications and Culture at York University, said a strike would have massive implications across the industry, halting and slowing everything down.

“It means these people, who have basically lost a lot of their money and a lot of their income for a year and a half are willing to go without money again,” Bay said.

“What it says to me, is it’s about time,” she said.

Bay said the harsh reality this industry is about to face is people in these types of jobs have been undervalued and the conditions they’ve been a part of have put a strain on their health, physically, mentally and emotionally.

“The people that nobody sees, are the people that are going to shut down the whole industry if you don’t pay attention to them,” Bay said.

Roham Abtahi, a unionized daily grip, said that he’s been fortunate.

He’s had a largely positive experience working with a team that gives it their all each and every day. But because he isn’t full-time, he’s able to balance a social life with work, but the tough conditions production staff face are very real.

“In the union, [there] are people that it’s their livelihood,” Abtahi said. “For those people who are full-timers, it takes a toll on them, you know, I can see the decay.”

Randy Sayer, a business representative for IATSE Local 706 in California, reaffirmed that no strike is good news, saying they are in the process of ratifying the contract so that their 50,000 members can improve their working conditions.