'Strike Ready': A Two-Front Labor Fight in Two Weeks
IATSE negotiations are about to start, followed by the U.K.'s own actors' Equity guild
Welcome back to Series Business, folks. In recent weeks, we’ve looked at the job market, the end of Peak TV and talked to the Mayor of TV, John Landgraf. Today, we’re spotlighting labor. (It’ll be familiar territory for Strikegeist-turned-Series Business readers.)
If you thought the industry suffered when the writers and actors went on strike, you wouldn’t want to see what happens when tens of thousands of crew members engage in a labor stoppage. IATSE (the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees), which represents about 150,000 below-the-line workers from editors to prop makers, begins negotiations on two contracts starting March 4, just two weeks from now. Meanwhile, across the pond, strict labor laws make strikes — or, in U.K. parlance, industrial actions — much rarer, but that’s not stopping British actors union Equity from steeling for a fight with producers’ trade org Pact over new TV series and indie film contracts.
So let’s take a gander at:
What IATSE members are looking for in the next contract
The odds and impact of another industry-hobbling strike
The financial pain many Hollywood workers are feeling and if they believe an action will help or hurt that in the long-run
The looming negotiations between actors’ union Equity and producers’ group Pact in the U.K.
A Quick Dolly Down Memory Lane
Hollywood has last year’s historic dual strikes seared into its collective memory, but almost as scarring was IATSE’s near-strike in 2021.
Recall: The Hollywood Basic Agreement and Area Standards Agreement, which together cover more than 60,000 crew members, expire July 31. (The Basic Agreement covers 13 West Coast locals in the union, while the Area Standards Agreement covers 23 locals across the rest of the United States.)
IATSE has made clear that it’s “not interested in extending this agreement.”
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