Basic Crafts Receive ‘Last, Best and Final Offer’ as Contract Expiration Approaches

With less than a week to go until its current contract expires, Hollywood Teamsters and the Basic Crafts ended another week of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers without a deal, as the unions say they have received what the studios described to them as their “last, best and final offer.”

“While our member-led committee considered the producer’s offer it was ultimately determined that it did not meet the negotiating committee’s approval,” read a memo from Hollywood Teamsters published in the early hours of Saturday morning.

“Late this evening, we countered to the AMPTP for our general Basic Crafts, Local 399 Black Book and Local 399 Location Manager Agreements with what we know to be a deal that would be recommended for ratification. We encourage the Producers to give it good faith consideration,” the statement continued.

Details on potential sticking points at this late stage of talks are still forthcoming, but insiders told TheWrap last week that a major hurdle was the issue of wages, specifically long-standing pay disparities between various jobs under Hollywood Teamsters’ jurisdiction that make it more difficult for union members to keep up with the cost of living in Los Angeles.

The terms “last, best and final offer” were used by the AMPTP during talks with the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA that ended last year’s double strike. It is a tactic that is regularly used to signal that it is time to come to terms on a deal, though both guilds held firm and continued talks for a little longer to secure additional gains on artificial intelligence protections.

“We’ve made significant progress during these negotiations, but we ultimately bargain for the recommendation of our negotiating committee. They are rank-and-file members that have been in the room and at the bargaining table with us since day one,” said Lindsey Dougherty, principal officer of Hollywood Teamsters and chairperson of the Basic Crafts.

“These aren’t just proposals on a piece of paper to our members. These are meaningful terms and conditions that impact their livelihoods. Without the committee’s recommendation, we got to work to deliver a counter late this evening. We think our response to the producer’s package is reasonable and would be a deal that gets this over the finish line.”

The Teamsters’ current contracts expire at midnight this Wednesday, July 31, and the union has informed AMPTP that it will not agree to an extension. While awaiting a response from AMPTP on its latest counter, Teamsters is set to hold a membership meeting on Sunday and will provide an update afterwards.

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