Hollywood Basic Crafts Strike New Tentative Agreement With Employers
The Teamsters Local 399 and Hollywood Basic Crafts have reached a new three-year tentative agreement with employers after negotiations began in early December 2021.
The Local announced that the deal — which covers film and television workers working across 13 Western states and under the umbrella of Local 399 as well as IBEW Local 40, LiUNA! Local 724, OPCMIA Local 755 and UA Local 78 — had been reached with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on Friday.
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Details of the agreement were not immediately available and “will be shared at the respective membership ratification meetings to be held soon,” Local 399 said, but the Hollywood Basic Crafts bargaining committee is unanimously recommending that members ratify the deal. Talks for the agreement ended on Friday.
As the negotiations began in early December, lead negotiator Lindsay Dougherty, Local 399’s recording secretary and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ Western vice president-elect, suggested in a statement that “fair and sustainable wages” and “working conditions” would be key talking points in the latest talks, as they had been for members of fellow industry union the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) before their Basic Agreement ratified in November. The Teamsters and IATSE also share health and pension plans, and IATSE gained a $370 million infusion into the plans over the course of three years in their latest Basic Agreement.
Dougherty also suggested that recent profits at companies with major streaming businesses such as Amazon, Netflix, Apple and Disney would play a role in negotiations. The negotiator previously told The Hollywood Reporter that this round of contract talks marks the first time Local 399 has negotiated with major streaming companies. “We expect these negotiations to be tough as we fight for the gains our members deserve,” she said, adding, “my ultimate goal is to protect, preserve and improve the lives of Hollywood Teamsters and all members of the Crafts.”
All together, the labor groups involved in this agreement represent nearly 7,500 entertainment industry workers, including animal trainers/wranglers, plumbers, cement masons, caterers, drivers and others. Following this agreement, Local 399 is set to negotiate successors to current contracts for location managers and casting directors.
