IATSE, Studios Strike Tentative Deal on Hollywood Basic Agreement

IATSE and AMPTP have reached a tentative agreement for the Hollywood Basic Agreement, the labor contract that covers the 13 West Coast locals of the below-the-line union, the guild and studio labor representatives announced jointly Tuesday.

While talks are still ongoing for the Area Standards Agreement, which covers IATSE locals outside of Los Angeles and other major production hubs, insiders say that a deal is expected to be reached soon. To allow those talks to be completed, IATSE will wait to release full summaries of both tentative agreements simultaneously.

In a memo sent to members Tuesday night, IATSE revealed some topline gains negotiated in the contract, including scale wage increases of 7% in the first year of the contract, followed by 4% and 3.5% in the subsequent years. The deal also includes significant wage increases for crew members on productions that go longer than 15 hours.

“Hourly workers will receive triple time (3x hourly) when any workday exceeds 15 elapsed hours, all On Call classifications will now receive double time on the 7th day of the workweek, and additional increases in pay will take effect on non-dramatic productions under the Videotape Supplemental Agreement,” the memo read.

The strenuous nature of film and television productions that can begin before dawn and last well past sundown has become a major point of frustration for IATSE members, who have shared stories of suffering health issues and physical exhaustion through the grasroots “Give Us A Rest” campaign that originated during the 2021 contract negotiations.

While the new bonuses will provide extra financial support to IATSE members who work on these lengthy shoots — an aid at a time when many of them have had their savings depleted by last year’s strikes and the drop in active productions in Los Angeles over the past six months — the memo stops short of announcing any hard limits on shoot day duration.

IATSE also announced that protections around artificial intelligence were negotiated both by the main negotiating committee and those for respective locals. While details were light, the union did note that the agreement included “language that ensures no employee is required to provide AI prompts in any manner that would result in the displacement of any covered employee.”

The union also says that the new deal would include “additional payments from employers that would address the $670M funding gap, including new streaming residuals. Additionally, no participant shall incur a break in service for plan year 2023.”

Read the full statement from the West Coast IATSE locals below:

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) announced a tentative agreement on all issues for the Hollywood Basic Agreement and Videotape Agreement negotiations. 

The tentative agreement is now pending ratification by the unions’ membership. Members and signatories will have the opportunity to review the agreement in the form of a Detailed Summary 2-3 days following this announcement, as well as a Memorandum of Agreement (M.O.A.) an estimated 2 weeks following this announcement. 

The parties now look forward to closing negotiations for the Area Standards Agreement.  

More to come…

The post IATSE, Studios Strike Tentative Deal on Hollywood Basic Agreement appeared first on TheWrap.