IATSE Sets Strike Date

[John]

Production of Soaps, Prime time & Film projects could be halted come Monday, October 18, 2021  if no agreement on a new 3-year deal is reached

 

Statement from IATSE Below

Edited October 13, 2021 by John

[John]

Deal Reached Strike Averted

https://deadline.com/2021/10/hollywood-strike-averted-iatse-amptp-reach-agreement-on-new-film-tv-contract-1234850563/

[dragonflies]

I read Deadline deleted their tweet about this, but the article is still up, hmmm....

[DramatistDreamer]

Probably because, while both sides have reached an agreement, it still needs to be ratified by vote. Until then it is not a fait accompli and still officially a tentative agreement. 

[John]

https://deadline.com/2021/10/details-of-new-iatse-contract-that-averted-strike-1234857132

[DramatistDreamer]

Something else that people outside the industry may not realize is that IATSE members in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have a completely different contract that is not expired but also offered to strike in solidarity with the other IATSE members whose contract terms were in contention.

[John]

Yeah I just learned this interesting

[DramatistDreamer]

I'm hearing that some people are unhappy with the agreement and a few are threatening to reject it.

How many?

Stay tuned, I guess?

[John]

Well everyone votes and then its like an electoral college  so not every local has to approve it for it to pass

 

If It fails

Negoiations resume

To strike, IATSE would have to pass another Strike authorization Vote

If they do, a new strike date would be set

But Voting on the tentative deal may not happen for weeks anyway

 

So this will not be quick

[DramatistDreamer]

Union members walked off the set of Rust, hours before the fatal shooting. The crew members cited working conditions as the reason they walked out.

I also heard that the person in charge of the munitions (weapons/gun), it was her first time on the job.

[Faulkner]

The above article is pretty damning about conditions on that set. Profits over people, per usual.

Edited October 23, 2021 by Faulkner

[Faulkner]

The proposed IATSE deal is mentioned in this Variety piece about Hutchins’s death:

 

[DramatistDreamer]

Thanks for posting @Faulkner.

A lot of issues are work here, some recent and others long-simmering.

As I mentioned up thread, there are union members that expressed deep dissatisfaction with the proposed IATSE agreement, mainly because they believe it to be a bad deal. This on set tragedy may cause more union members to join the ranks of the dissatisfied.

There is also the issue of the pandemic pushing back production schedules and film production companies and investors rushing to catch up to amended release dates ("haste makes waste" is not just an empty aphorism). Tie this in with the long-running issue of having all these venture capitalists investing in movies, with expectations of quick profits (which is not generally the way it works), a "time is money" mentality and multiple production companies, half a dozen or more on one film project, which is often seen as spreading the risk of investment in an artistic enterprise (i.e. money losing) can also have a "too many cooks" effect on a project.

One can only hope that there would be some soul searching in the industry, but this is Hollywood and the movie business not the theater, where they at least pretend to be thoughtful about where they can do better.

[John]

I really hope this tragedy makes AMPTP put more safety protocols in place. IATSE may end getting what they really want because of this shooting

[DramatistDreamer]

Those two accidental gun discharges prior to the fatal one this week though, might come back to haunt the producers.