IATSE strike looms large

There have been suggestions of a looming IATSE strike for several weeks, and it finally looks like the matter will go to a general vote as of October 1st. Should it be authorized, the strike will lead to a national shutdown across the film and TV industries. We turned to entertainment attorney and industry expert, Brandon Blake, for all the details to know for now. 


                                       Brandon Blake- Managing Partner at Blake & Wang P.A


There’s no secret that conversations around worker’s rights (as well as wealth inequality) have been holding the headlines of late. Below-the-line workers’ issues have been highlighted, especially through a key anonymous social media account, over the last year and a bit, exacerbated by the pandemic. 


IATSE’s concerns center on a contract-negotiation impasse between them and studios, compelling the union to move ahead with the vote-to-strike. Key issues include wages, long working hours, overnight turnaround times, worker’s rights issues like enforced skipping of supposedly mandatory meal breaks, and a tendency to see lower compensation offered for streaming projects- now the bulk of industry work- vs old-fashioned TV and movie projects. While the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers clearly believes it has offered a ‘deal-closing’ offer, it would appear the union is not yet satisfied. 


Voting will take place through simultaneous elections beginning October 1. Should it be clear, the IATSE president and committee will have the authority to call a strike should deals sour further. Should the strike go ahead, it could be the largest human-led disruption to the Hollywood slate since the infamous 2007 writers’ strike. Nor do we have the culture of ‘stockpiled content’ that buoyed the industry at that time, with content demand at an all-time high and the pandemic itself having created a slow production schedule. A strike authorization could give the union a very powerful bargaining chip. 


For the strike-vote to proceed, they will need ¾ of their members to agree. We will, of course, be keeping a careful eye on the situation.




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