IATSE Concludes First Week of Area Standards Talks, Sets Next Hollywood Agreement Negotiations

Raquel 'Rocky' Harris
·2 min read

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees wrapped up its first week of negotiations over the union’s Area Standards Agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on Friday. IATSE and the AMPTP will head back to the table next week following the Memorial Day holiday on Tuesday, May 28.

“This negotiation is fundamentally about ensuring the employers respect our right to get off out feet and get some rest during a long workday, to get home safely and see our families and have some economic stability,” IATSE International president Matthew D. Loeb said in a statement. “The work will continue next week when we resume our talks with the employers.”

This was the first of two weeks of scheduled chats to negotiate the Area Standards Agreement, which covers 23 local unions and around 20,000 film and TV workers across the U.S. It excludes those in Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Chicago, who are covered under separate deals. During this week’s conversation, IATSE and the AMPTP talked about classification and wage adjustments, subcontracting, working conditions and benefit enhancements.

As for the Hollywood Basic Agreement Negotiations, which covers about 50,000 workers from 13 West Coast Studio Local Unions, discussions are set to start back up on June 3 and be held over three days through June 5.

For now, the Basic Agreement Negotiating Committee and the AMPTP have found common ground on several issues, but other conversations and proposals remain to be settled. Those specific proposals could still be amended until a full tentative agreement is made, the IATSE statement notes.

As TheWrap previously reported, IATSE’s Hollywood Basic and Area Standards Agreements both expire on July 31, as do the contracts for Teamsters 399. Both unions have publicly stated that they will not agree to an extension of their current contracts and have not ruled out the possibility of a strike if a deal is not reached by the end of July.

The post IATSE Concludes First Week of Area Standards Talks, Sets Next Hollywood Agreement Negotiations appeared first on TheWrap.