With IATSE in the Rearview, Teamsters Are ‘Far Apart’ with Studios as the Clock Is Ticking to Make a Deal

Just yesterday on Thursday, Hollywood breathed a sigh of relief over the film and TV industry’s crews with IATSE ratifying new contracts that would mean they would not be heading out on strike this summer. But one negotiation still remains, for Teamsters Local 399 and Hollywood Basic Crafts, and the clock is ticking.

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On Friday, the Teamsters wrapped up their previously scheduled bargaining window of talks with the AMPTP. They’ve been at the bargaining table for five straight weeks, briefly overlapping with IATSE , and today they gave members an update that they still are without a deal and with “still much work to be done.”

“There is still much work to be done to reach a tentative agreement as we remain far apart on our core bargaining priorities,” the negotiating committee said in a statement to members late Friday night. “After five weeks of negotiations, this was the first week in which we saw the employers take this process seriously and engage in meaningful discussions. We look forward to continuing to educate the Companies on the important work our members do for their productions, and we will see them back at the table next week.”

Hollywood Basic Crafts consists of Local 399, IBEW Local 40, LiUNA! Local 724, UA Local 78 and OPCMIA Local 755. They represent roughly 8,000 workers, including everyone from drivers, location managers, electricians, chef assistants, animal wranglers, plasterers, and more. They’re negotiating for an update to their Black Book Agreement and Locations Managers Agreement, both of which expire on July 31.

The union said today that talks would continue for now on Monday and Tuesday, but like IATSE before them, they’ve struck a tough tone and have said they don’t want to extend negotiations past July 31. Should they still not have a deal by then, it’s likely that the Teamsters will do a vote to authorize a strike and could call one shortly after that.

Should the Teamsters go on strike, virtually all Hollywood production would shut down. Writers rooms, development, and actors signing on to new projects would continue, as would post-production work, but physical production depends entirely on truck drivers and basic crafts individuals to keep the show rolling.

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Some of the Teamsters’ demands include higher wages for workers, creating minimum wages for department heads, improved working conditions including more holidays and more overtime penalties, and more contributions to the union’s pension and health plan.

Lead negotiator Lindsay Dougherty has said these proposals are reasonable and would cost the studios little, but that they have not been aligned with the studios on some of their core priorities.

“I want to be clear; we aren’t looking for a strike, we’re fighting for a fair deal for our members,” Dougherty said on a call with around 2,000 members last Sunday. We won’t, however, bargain against ourselves, we won’t be intimidated to take our priorities off the table, and we won’t be taking any concessions.”

The union even brought in Teamsters General President Sean M. O’Brien to help give Local 399 some more firepower during the last week of negotiations. O’Brien spoke at the Republican National Convention earlier this week, so his presence was intended to help the Teamsters put the thumb on the scale when dealing with the AMPTP.