IATSE, Major Studios Reach Tentative Agreement on Wages, AI-Use

LOS ANGELES—After months of negotiations, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) announced a tentative agreement on all issues for the Hollywood Basic Agreement and Videotape Agreement

The announcement includes agreements on pay, AI-use and other issues that still must be ratified by the unions’ membership.

The union said that a complete summary of the tentative agreement will be released in a few days.

The 13 IATSE West Coast Studios said in a "Joint Letter Announcing the Tentative Agreement for the Basic Agreement" that "to avoid undermining our fellow members in the Area Standards Agreement (ASA) Locals, who remain in negotiations with the AMPTP, we will wait to release full summaries of both tentative agreements simultaneously.”

Some of the proposed changes in the Basic tentative agreement include scale rate increases of 7%, 4%, and 3.5% over the three-year term, the 13 IATSE West Coast Studios said.

“Hourly workers will receive triple time (3x hourly) when any workday exceeds 15 elapsed hours, all On Call classifications will now receive double time on the 7th day of the workweek, and additional increases in pay will take effect on non-dramatic productions under the Videotape Supplemental Agreement,” the letter said.

“The tentative deal includes new protections around Artificial Intelligence, including language that ensures no employee is required to provide AI prompts in any manner that would result in the displacement of any covered employee. These changes in the Basic Agreement are in addition to the tentative agreements reached in the Local Agreement negotiations,” the joint letter said.

“For the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans (MPIPHP), the tentative agreement  includes additional payments from employers that would address the $670M funding gap, including new streaming residuals. Additionally, no participant shall incur a break in service for plan year 2023,” the union announced.

The agreement follows months of bargaining between the unions and the studios.

Variety reported that key provisions for wage increases match terms won by SAG-AFTRA last fall and that the studios still have to “negotiate deals with the Teamsters and the other Basic Crafts unions, as well as the Area Standards Agreement with IATSE.”