The prospect of another Hot Labor Summer in Hollywood just got a little less likely.
“Today marked the conclusion of our bargaining team’s in-person local negotiations with the AMPTP regarding our Camera and Publicist Agreements,” said the leadership of the International Cinematographer’s Guild in a note to members late last night. “We’ve reached a tentative agreement on Local 600 specific issues.”
The deal comes after just three days of direct talks by the ICG with the Carol Lombardini-led AMPTP. With the crafts guilds back at the bargaining table starting March 18 after a week of caucusing, the Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800) are also in direct negotiations with the studios right now. “The Motion Picture Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700) and IATSE Local 729 are expected to begin their negotiations with the AMPTP later in the week,” the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) said yesterday, under a strategy where ” two locals will negotiate simultaneously at any given time” with the studios over the next month.
Overall talks on a new deal kicked off March 4 with the leadership of IATSE, the Hollywood Teamsters and other crafts guilds meeting with the AMPTP for several days to discuss health and pension benefits, and offer proposals. The current contract is set to end on July 31.
“We wish the remainder of the West Coast Studio Locals best of luck as they negotiate their local specific issues,” the IGC told members on March 21. “We look forward to building on the success in the General Negotiations, which this tentative Local 600 specific agreement will be part of. Once a tentative deal is reached, all members will have the opportunity to vote to ratify the agreement.”
Still to be ratified, the tentative agreement between the ICG and the AMPTP is significant on a number of levels for Hollywood. in what IATSE boss Matthew Loeb has described as “precarious” state of the industry. For no other reason than the 9,000-member strong ICG make up the largest IATSE local and hence carry a lot of influence.
Coming off last year’s months long successful strikes by the WGA and SAG-AFTRA, IATSE president Loeb has openly said he has no plans to extend the union’s current deals beyond their July 31 expiration — which is a very different stance than he and the leadership took three years ago in the last talks.
A stance that he may have paid a serious price for.
In 2021, after an overwhelming nationwide strike-authorization vote by IATSE members when talks with the AMPTP seemed to crash, the last contracts were ratified by members in a closer-than-usual vote. That vote three years ago resulted in the the L.A. locals reject the agreement in the popular vote.
This time round, as the AMPTP continues to sit down with the locals, IATSE national leadership has said it will center on the restart of negotiations for the Hollywood Basic Agreement General Negotiations and the start of the IATSE-AMPTP Area Standards Agreement at the end of April. The Basic Agreement covers all 13 of the union’s Hollywood locals, while the Area Standard Agreement covers 26 locals outside of Los Angeles. Overall around 60,000 industry related IATSE members are effected by the contracts.
In 2021, after an overwhelming nationwide strike-authorization vote by IATSE members when talks with the AMPTP seemed to crash, the last contracts were ratified by members in a closer-than-usual vote. That vote three years ago resulted in the the L.A. locals reject the agreement in the popular vote.