The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) narrowly avoided a nationwide strike this weekend after reaching a tentative agreement in negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. It remains unclear whether or not members will choose to ratify the deal. Simultaneously, John Deere workers – who succeeded in a push to have the full text of a proposed new contract between the company and the International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America (UAW) revealed to them ahead of the vote – commenced their own strike last week. Members rejected a tentative deal in a vote the previous Sunday.
Collective action has in recent years reached far beyond the realm of public sector employees and blue-collar work. Earlier this year, NFL players were torn over the possibility of adding a 17th regular season game to the schedule, with the union ultimately voting to do so in exchange for a 1.5 percent increase in the players’ cut of league revenue, landing them at 48.5 percent. Silicon Valley has also become hip to the potential power of a collective voice. Employees with tech giants like Facebook and Google have banded together over issues including the handling of potentially harmful content on their platforms and their employers’ responses to sexual misconduct.
IATSE, which represents film and television crews, is arguing for longer turnaround between production days, in a conversation that isn’t new to the industry. Existing rules around the amount of time producers must allow crew members between when they clock out and their next call time don’t adequately protect against dangerous patterns, according to advocates for stricter limits. What’s different this time is that workers are coming from months of time off, after which the industry briefly adopted 10-hour shoot days, compared to the 14+ hours that have become the norm.
Following the pandemic, employees across industries are shifting their views on how work should fit into their lives. Hollywood is no exception, so those who have for years, and even decades, championed a change to grueling crew schedules may have found their window.
Notably, despite the sometimes hyperbolic rhetoric, the changes sought by these collective actions have been modest in nature.
Comments are closed.