One of Hollywood’s most powerful labor unions voted to boycott the strike if it did not meet the agreement with the new contractors.
The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (Iatse) says 90% of eligible people – 60,000 employees from across the country whose studios are negotiating – voted and 98% voted against the strike.
“Members have spoken clearly,” Iatse President Matthew Loeb said in a statement. “This vote concerns the well-being and health and safety of those who work in film and television programs.”
The first nationwide strike of 128 years of the agreement gives you ample opportunity to return to the negotiating table with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (Amptp), which represents studios and production companies, looking for better working hours, better pay, leisure time and more.
Iatse also wants to raise wages for broadcasters who claim to be “underpaid” even in production and budgets that are opposed to blockbusters.
Amptp said he was “committed to achieving a partnership that would benefit both companies” but said it would “be necessary for all to work together”.
Negotiations between Iatse and Amptp were suspended in September. If there had been a boycott, it would have been bigger than the original in 2007-08, when 12,000 movie and television producers carried 14 weeks.