IATSE Reaches Deal on Area Standards Agreement

IATSE has reached a tentative deal on the Area Standards Agreement, the contract that covers 20,000 film and TV workers around the country, including those in Louisiana, New Mexico and Georgia.

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The deal follows the Basic Agreement, which applies to 13 locals based in Los Angeles, and which was concluded on Tuesday. Both contracts must now be ratified by the membership.

The contracts are broadly similar, though minimum rates are lower in the Area Standards Agreement. The agreement covers 23 IATSE locals, whose jurisdiction applies everywhere in the U.S. except for Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and New York.

IATSE got a 7% increase in the first year of both contracts, followed by increases of 4% and 3.5%. The ASA also includes “additional regional wage adjustments,” the union said, as well as a 33% increase in the living allowance for “nearby hires.”

Both contracts also include triple-time pay once a workday reaches 15 hours.

The union also got additional streaming residuals to help cover a $670 million shortfall in the pension and health plans.

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Now that both contracts have been concluded, more details are expected to be released to the membership, especially on the issue of artificial intelligence. That was a major issue in bargaining, though so far IATSE has only said that its members will not be forced to write AI prompts that put other members out of work.

Negotiations on both contracts have been underway since the first week of March. Though there was some saber-rattling at the outset, the negotiations proceeded relatively smoothly, without resort to a strike authorization vote or even the threat of one.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which bargains on behalf of the studios, can now turn its full attention to the Teamsters and other Basic Crafts unions — the plumbers, plasterers, electricians and laborers.

The Teamsters contract expires on July 31. The Teamsters have suggested that the studios are not showing enough “urgency” to get a deal, suggesting perhaps a bumpier ride.

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