Three Labor Unions Threaten Another Hollywood Shut Down and Strike by Summer

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), Teamsters and the Hollywood Basic Crafts unions announced this week they are currently negotiating with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), hoping to avoid major Hollywood strikes like those that crippled the industry for much of last year.

Last year both the Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television (SAG-AFTRA) went on strike over several issues, including better residual fees for streaming service programs, overall better pay, minimum writing staff standards, and strict regulation on the use of artificial intelligence. The WGA strike lasted 148 days, from May 2, 2023 to September 27, 2023, while the SAG-AFTRA strike went on for 118 days from July 14, 2023 to November 9, 2023. Combined, the strikes shut down much of Hollywood, with most film and TV projects being stalled as a result.

While productions are now back to normal, the combined strikes cost the national economy around $6 billion. In California, the figure has been quoted between $3 and $4 billion, with tens of thousands of jobs lost temporarily for about half the year. With both the studios and workers wanting to avoid such another shutdown, the three unions and the AMPTP, which represents the studios, began negotiating Monday, several months ahead of the July 31st deadline when the current contracts run out.

The big sticking point for both sides is the issue of health and pension benefits. As the three unions were hit financially hard by both the COVID-19 shutdowns and last years strikes, with the strikes last year in particular causing big issues in keeping health plans afloat amidst no one paying in because of the work stoppage, they have demanded a better deal to make up the past several years. In particular, the unions hope to go after streaming like SAG-AFTRA and the WGA did last year and have residuals from there help fund the plans. Other issues include the usage of AI, retirement accrual rate changes, and the threat of crew reductions.

Before negotiations began in earnest on Monday, a rally in support of the three unions was held in Los Angeles, with many of the union leaders coming out in defense of what they are asking.

Yesterday, thousands of Hollywood entertainment workers rallied in solidarity with @IATSE ahead of today's contract negotiations with AMPTP.

Let's be clear: Nothing moves without the crew. MANY CRAFTS, ONE FIGHT! (📷: @sagaftra) pic.twitter.com/PRlCSqidBB

— AFL-CIO ✊ (@AFLCIO) March 4, 2024

“Their fight is our fight. It’s really plain and simple,” said IATSE International President Matthew Loeb. “We’re on the same benefit plans. The IATSE kids and the Teamster and Basic Craft kids live on the same streets and play together and go to the same schools. We’re the same. We’re workers. There’s enough to go around.”

“Those advantages need to take the pressure off our jobs, so we can enjoy our families and live these lives, and not have to work 80-hour weeks. If that efficiency comes, it needs to come to us and our jobs. And we will use that to do our jobs better. But we want some of the spoils of artificial intelligence.”

Teamsters President Sean O’Brien took a more blunt approach, adding, “We are not afraid to strike. If these greedy corporations, whether it’s Amazon, Netflix, Sony, Disney, if they choose not to reward our members, they are putting themselves on strike. We will put them on their back, on their knees, begging for mercy.”

“We have a message for the white collar crime syndicates known as the studios. When you —- with the Teamsters, or any other union, it’s a full contact sport. Put your helmets on and buckle your chin straps.”

L.A. County Federation of Labor president Yvonne Wheeler said, “AMPTP, hear us loud and clear: These workers may work below the line, but that doesn’t mean their wages and benefits should be near the poverty line.”

The studios have been largely silent on the current negotiations, as well as yet another possible strike that could happen to the industry this August. Union experts told the Globe on Tuesday that negotiations would likely drag on for some time, but would likely not approach the levels of tension seen last year.

“With these unions, no matter how vitriolic they sounded on Sunday, they want less than what the writers and actors were asking for last year,” said Theresa Stevenson, an arbitrator in Michigan who has helped settled union disputes and strikes in the past. “Studios are aware of this too. We’ll see the usual dance of negotiations for awhile, especially around using streaming of residuals. Studios are a bit more guarded of those following the strikes last year.”

“But the studios understand all the recent years of hardship all the below-the-line people have seen and basically are seeing the benefit demands as essentially a cost of living increase. The unions, likewise, know that the studios are still hurting from last year and recent bad decisions of many studios, including many prominent flops. Notice how this time around they aren’t doing dramatic walk outs or arguing over negotiation venues. Both sides just want this done but also are working to give their side the best deal. But it is night and day difference over the circus of last year.”

“We should only start worrying about this one come mid-July and only if they are not close to a deal.”

More on the negotiations is likely to be announced in the coming months.