The countdown for what may be a historic break in Hollywood has begun. IATSE, the main union of workers in the film and television industry in the United States that 10 days ago it got the overwhelming support of its affiliates to go on its first strike in 128 years if an agreement is not reached with the studios and producers to improve their working conditions, has set a deadline for that pact to be reached. And the first minute of Monday the 18th (California time) 60,000 editors, cameras, makeup artists, costume managers and post-production managers, among many other professionals, can do with their strike that the shootings in everything USA stop dry.
“The pace of the negotiation does not seem to reflect no sense of urgency and without a deadline we could keep talking forever. Our members deserve to have their basic needs addressed now, ”IATSE president Matthew Loeb said in a statement on Wednesday in which he drew the red line.
AMPTP, the organization that brings together producers and studios like Disney, Netflix and Apple, responded with another statement highlighting that there are days to reach an agreement and Jarryd Gonzales, his spokesman, promised that “the studies will continue to negotiate in good faith”.
This is not the feeling that exists among the workers and despite the fact that there has been some progress in the negotiations, tensions and differences persist. And the union, you’ve been looking for salary improvements, longer rest periods and there is fairer compensation per work for streaming platforms, has ended up deciding to mark the deadline.
This Thursday on its Twitter account the union posted a thread that opens with a quote from a book by JRR Tolkien and also recalls that “strikes are a disruptive tool that workers are forced to use. when all other options have been exhausted. We do not delight in a strike or seek it, ”they explain. “It is the means to an end. Together we have decided that a reasonable rest, living wages and respect deserve the burden ”. “We are waiting for an agreement but we are preparing for the strike,” they conclude. “If the studios want a fight they have whipped up a bad enemy”.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.