IATSE: Union Leaders Face Hard Questions and a Campaign To Kill the Tentative Agreement
The unorthodox labor negotiation enters a new chapter, with crew turning to Facebook instead of their locals for answers and an electoral college style vote that could wreak havoc.
When news came July 26 that the producers (AMPTP) and West Coast crew (IATSE) reached a tentative labor agreement, Hollywood breathed a sigh of relief. By the weekend, of the 13 locals represented in the IATSE-AMPTP negotiations, 12 informed their memberships that they would recommend ratification. IATSE locals traditionally vote in accordance with leadership recommendations, but something else happened this weekend: Union members began a grassroots Get Out the Vote campaign, with an eye toward killing the deal.
This effort traces back to the lone standout, Local 700 (the Motion Picture Editor's Guild). Under Cathy Repola, the union's executive national director, the leadership did something unheard of in modern labor negotiations of below-the-line crew: They organized and engaged its members, walked them through the negotiations, and framed the differences over work hours and benefits funding as being worthy of a labor stoppage.
The AMPTP and leadership of other locals don't appreciate the effort, and are working to paint 700 as going rogue. "Los Angeles has 13 locals," reads a letter from Local 705 (Motion Picture Costumers) to its members. "All but one local are supportive of this contract. That local is very visibly criticizing the new agreement. Please remember this new contract is heavily supported by all locals except one."
Despite that cheerleading, leaders of the other 12 unions now face member pushback. That same letter from Local 705 describes one "union gain" as "Residuals from Streaming/New Media contributed to Pension Plan." In an annotated counter, published on Facebook's 2018 IATSE Contract Forum, an orange box next to this bullet point adds the following information: "Limited to features above $30 mill and longer than 96 mins. Less than rates granted to DGA, WGA, SAG-AFTRA." Excluding streaming-only series like Netflix originals, a key element of IATSE's conflict with the AMPTP, paints the "gain" in a completely different light.
And herein lies the nightmare scenario for leaders of the other 12 locals: Members are turning to Facebook, not to them, for information. The private 2018 IATSE Contract Facebook group has grown from approximately 3,000 members to about 13,000 members in a matter of weeks, with well over 500 members joining daily. To manage the growth, moderators from each of the 13 locals have been charged with approving entry.
This engaged Facebook group largely aligns with Local 700's views (though notably moderating as it expands), but it is also a forum that favors detailed information and placing each negotiating point in full context. Based on multiple conversations with members, the forum fills an information vacuum left by their locals. This places the union leadership in the precarious position of facing hard questions they're unaccustomed to answering, while increasing the power of the detail-oriented Repola to frame the conversation and extend the education she's brought to members of Local 700.
The hardest question: Exactly which concessions did IATSE gain in the third round of talks, after walking away from the negotiating table in early July? Some IATSE members are accusing their leaders of folding and never threatening a strike that might move the AMPTP off its firm negotiating position.
Meanwhile, some locals' leadership have instructed members not to discuss the terms of their specific AMPTP agreement with other locals. Many members are ignoring that concept, both online and at meet-ups, as they not only compare notes, but also try to understand how the deal affects members working in different locals and in different formats (network, streaming, broadcast) in significantly different ways.
The IATSE crew on Marvel's "Jessica Jones"
David Giesbrecht/Netflix
Agreement ratification is an extended process, which doesn't favor any local that hopes to thwart the Get Out the Vote effort. The memorandum of agreement, reflecting the new aspects of the existing contract, still needs to be written, with hard copies mailed to all 43,000 IATSE members represented in the talks. Members then mail back a paper ballot with a "yes" or "no."
Union voting is not a simple majority of the total membership. Instead, it's more like the electoral college: Each local has a specific number of votes based on the size of its membership; all of those votes are then allocated based on the simple majority of the local membership.
The magic number for a "yes" or "no" is 191 votes. Many speculate that members of Local 700 (73 votes) could join forces with members of Local 600 (76 votes), who were vocal about the issues surrounding shorter work days and longer turnaround. If that were the case, only one (perhaps Local 44, with 56 votes) or two other locals would be needed to stop ratification.
A number of engaged IATSE members express fear of a strike, pointing to the long-term effects of the WGA strike in 2008-09. And unions that view its leadership as weak might be wary of playing a high-stakes game of chicken with the producers. It's a drama that will play out over the next few weeks, but one thing is almost certain: There is a core, and growing, part of IATSE that is becoming engaged for the first time. The leadership's hope for a quiet show of hands looks less likely than it did a month ago.
A woman was followed into a portable bathroom and sexually assaulted at the Foo Fighters concert Sunday night at Wrigley Field, authorities said.
The assault happened about 9:30 p.m., according to police.
The woman, 23, reported that she was in line for food when a man groped her. She told police she left the line and walked to a port-a-potty and that the man entered behind her before she could lock the door and assaulted her.
The offender grabbed her neck and hit her head against the wall of the port-a-potty, according to police. She reported the incident to a nursing station, police were called and she was taken to a hospital by a private ambulance.
The man was described as white, 40 to 50 years old, 5-foot-9 with brown, thinning hair, and possibly a receding hairline. He was not in custody.
The port-a-potty was seized as evidence, according to Chicago police, and detectives were processing video.
A Chicago Cubs spokesman said the organization is cooperating with police.
"We are using every available resource to help authorities identify and apprehend the suspect and are working with CPD to address the matter quickly," Julian Green said in an emailed statement. "We are encouraging anyone who may have information to please contact police."
The Cubs will increase security at Monday night's show, according to Green.
"We are increasing security staff in the portable restroom area so we have a fixed visual presence to monitor guests going in and out of the restrooms," Green said. "Guest safety is paramount at Wrigley Field and we take every opportunity to ensure our guests' safety, including routinely reviewing our security protocols and procedures with police."
The Cubs provide security at the stadium for all games and events through a contractor.
wkarons posted: "Playwright Aaron Posner gets something that few American directors and actors do: Anton Chekhov's plays are funny.Not smiling-wryly funny, or inwardly-groaning funny, but actually-get-you-to-burst-out-laughing funny. They're chock full of comic situations"
Playwright Aaron Posner gets something that few American directors and actors do: Anton Chekhov's plays are funny.Not smiling-wryly funny, or inwardly-groaning funny, but actually-get-you-to-burst-out-laughing funny. They're chock full of comic situations, oddball characters, and ridiculous turns of events; the problem is that most American interpretations of Chekhov, seduced by the psychological depth in his plays, […]
This post is not about the #NotInOurHouse, #MeToo, and #TimesUp movements; I wanted to write about those movements back in January but I did not feel that it was my place as a male stage manager when it was others' turn to speak. This post is not about the (at this point in time) allegations of bullying surrounding the suicide of Jeffrey Loeffelholz; I am not connected to Chicago and one of their former stage managers has spoken about the atmosphere surrounding that production to the blog Justice for Jeffrey.
But the unmaskings of abusive behavior by theatre leaders in the past year has produced one chilling question: where was the stage manager?
wow.
As a group, stage managers focus on the safety of our cast and crew, and our companies have therefore grown to expect us to protect them. So much so that, when a member of my own company becomes injured, even when all safety protocols were in place, I feel awful. I question whether I could have done more. I beat myself up about not catching tiny indicators that something was wrong. And all of this is just about a physical injury caused by some accident.
So where were the stage managers during emotional, sexual, or physical abuse by people in positions of power?
In many cases, we were right there and felt powerless. Perhaps we were in denial, but perhaps we knew something was not right but did not know how to respond. And what would happen if we did take action? If we see something physically unsafe, we will stop a show. But what if we see something emotionally unsafe, do we feel we have the authority to intervene? Do we need permission from the victim to intervene? The fact that Actors' Equity Association has hired legal counsel to investigate Loeffelholz's death may be a turning point in how we view the emotional health of our companies.
I have heard calls from several sources for stage management training in school. I wish this could be part of the solution, but I fear that it will just 'kick the can down the road' and make the issue someone else's problem to solve. As a college instructor, I have asked different institutions what training we can provide and how can we provide it. And the most common response has been that we need to check with Risk Management. Because if we provide the wrong training, we can do more harm than good and be sued.
Think about something as simple as helping a choking victim. In order to learn how to dislodge an object blocking an airway, Americans are expected to go through certification every two years. And the recommended solution has changed over the past decade: when and how to give abdominal thrusts versus back blows. Plus we have to train rescuers to approach the victim, ask if they are okay, and then ask if they want our help. All of this for a problem as simple and obvious as obstructed breathing. Now imagine the training and number of steps required to determine the safety of a situation when we hear that a person in authority has offered to meet with a young artist after hours. This may go well beyond first aid training. And who is qualified to teach it?
But the fact that something is difficult is not reason enough to not try. When the issue of smoke/haze was first raised, the pushback was that there wasn't an effective way to measure the threat and that the movement impeded the artistic intent of productions. I am certain that most movements to improve the health of performers and stage managers seemed nearly impossible at the time they were proposed. As more and more voices have proven over the past year, now is the time for all of us to hold this conversation.
Bullying and harassment have no place in theatre; just because it was tolerated at some point in time does not mean that we should turn a blind eye to abuse. It does not make us stronger. It does not make our productions better. It only serves the abusers and ruins the lives of artists. No more.
You may remember my last article in what must now become a series, Dear White Critics: Stop Using the N-Word, when Justin Hayford decided racial slurs were appropriate for a theatre column. Yesterday, Ben Brantley of the New York Times decided it was appropriate to make a joke out of the unveiling of a trans character's pronouns in the new Broadway musical Head Over Heels'. The character? Oracle and non-binary plural narrator Pythio, portrayed by drag performer Peppermint, who is a trans woman. What's notable is that it's the first time a trans actor has ever created a principle role in a Broadway show, and that Pythio is one of a handful of genderqueer characters ever seen on Broadway. Therefore, as a critic, one might think Brantley would use this opportunity to celebrate that fact. Alas, instead he decided to say this:
…"its dichotomous nature matches the didactic thrust of a show that celebrates the importance of not being (and pardon me, for trotting out what's starting to feel like the decade's most overused word) binary… These assorted role reversals are overseen by the wise oracle Pythio (Peppermint, a contestant on 'RuPaul's Drag Race,' described in the program as 'the first transgender woman to create a principal role' on Broadway). Pythio identifies as "nonbinary plural." Dametas (Tom Alan Robbins), the King's viceroy and father of Mopsa, finds himself strangely drawn to her – I mean them."
In one fell swoop Ben Brantley decided to make a commonly used pronoun, "they," into a joke. This seems pretty transphobic on the surface, but let's break it down to be sure. A person who identifies as "Nonbinary plural" as both the fictional Pythio and myself do, operate with a plural pronoun. As a trans friend of mine once put it, "it speaks to the multiplicity inside of us." I use "they/them" professionally to communicate the information that I do not fall specifically on either side of the binary.
Perhaps Mr. Brantley simply felt using singular "they" was ungrammatical and decided to poke fun at something he thought was wrong– unfortunately this assumption is incorrect. According to Merriam-Webster (https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/singular-nonbinary-they ), singular "they" has been in use since the 1300s, and as a nonbinary pronoun dating back to the 1950s.
That means the singular "they" pronoun has been in use for what is quite likely the entirety of Ben Brantley's life, and yet it is somehow new to him. Interesting. It would be easy to defend the idea that Mr. Brantley was simply unaware, however it is his job as a writer to represent the people he is writing about fairly, be up to date on basic grammar, and to not make fun of the people or characters he is writing about. Those are bare minimums.
Furthermore, Brantley has been writing poorly about depictions of genderqueer characters for some time. One only has to look at his review of Men On Boatsfor evidence:
"That women — embodying 19th-century mores while speaking in a 21st-century vernacular — are portraying men here weaves this point of view into the very fabric of the performance. And I have the feeling that it may be easier for them than it would be for male actors to grasp the artificial constructs of masculinity from Powell's time. (For the record, not all the ensemble members identity as belonging to a single gender; so excuse any hedging use of pronouns.)"
In the space of a few breaths he acknowledges not all performers identify ("identity" is likely a spelling error here) as a singular gender yet he calls the performers women. That is not even the worst part, the worst part is this was written in 2015. Ben Brantley knew non binary pronouns existed three years ago and he apparently has not taken a second to educate himself on the long history of the gender binary and folx resistance to it.
Let that sink in.
Brantley made the active choice not to give a shit about a relatively large and ever growing demographic of people he is supposed to advocate for or at the very least respect. You cannot convince me that Brantley would have made that joke if he actually had compassion and understanding for the trans community instead of our pronouns as a burden he was excited to get one over on. It's insulting to the New York community, the national theatre community, and most importantly it limits the art.
"By the end of 'Hir' a line from Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing' came to mind. It is spoken by a bachelor who realizes he has fallen in love and quips: 'The world must be peopled.' Follow Mac's play to its logical conclusion and you might be tempted to say: Well, we now have test tubes for that." – Hedy Weiss
As a non-binary person, I have never been tempted to say "we now have test tubes for that," when it comes to childbirth. I'll be honest and say this gut punch hurt just as much as the Pass Over review. This insulting remark negates the variety of ways trans people become healthy parents, and propogates fear that trans people are somehow a threat to populating the earth – for the record, that's clearly false.
This rhetoric creates mistrust. When Hedy was reviewing for the Sun Times (and even now as she reviews for WTTW), performers were quite literally afraid to be reviewed by her. Afraid she would comment on their body, their gender, their race, or say something violent about the community they belonged to. They did not want to perform for her. Many lost paying work because of their refusal to perform for a woman they did not trust. Brantley has now entered the same sphere: if he cannot and will not advocate for queer artists and their representation onstage, they will not feel they are welcome on the stages he is supposed to validate, and less artists will pursue roles.
Brantley has since released an apology and response, and edited the review to no longer include the text depicted above. They also have taken the opportunity to correct some grammatical errors ("your" to "you are", that sort of thing). Which makes me wonder – how fast and loose is the editing process at the NYT that contractions are thrown to the wayside? Furthermore, Brantley claims he was trying to "reflect the light tone of the show." Really? "and pardon me, for trotting out what's starting to feel like the decade's most overused word…" sounds weary and annoyed, but hardly light. Additionally, if the show spent a whole plot point telling you NOT to say something, perhaps try just not saying it.
Brantley's apology reads: "I feel horrible about having offended transgender and nonbinary communities. I was trying to reflect the light tone of the show, as well as a plot point in which one character learns to acknowledge another not as 'she' but as 'they' — this is meant to be a reference to the character of the Oracle [Pythio], not Peppermint, the person who plays the role. This unfortunately read as more flippant than I would ever have intended especially with regard to a performance that marks a historical first. I am deeply sorry."
The thing is, I never thought he was referring to Peppermint because I know who she is, it's the flippant attitude around having to acknowledge the gender binary and making fun of the idea that it's hard to remember pronouns that bothered me. It is imperative that Mr. Brantley give a genuine apology that incorporates accountability rather than excuses. It is equally imperative that he actually educates himself on this large, loving, and creative community of artists and people. As a mouthpiece for one of the biggest left leaning newspapers in the world, he should know better, and we should demand better. Peppermint says, "Trans women and women, have always been directly and indirectly contributing to the art form of drag." I take it one it one step further: trans folx have always directly and indirectly contributed to the art form of theatre, and we ought to start respecting that.
As a critic of the New York Times and therefore a leader of and role model to arts journalists across America, I expect better from Brantley. Which is why we can't wait for Ben Brantley and Justin Hayford and Hedy Weiss' tolerance. As a new generation of arts leaders emerges we must find ways to train and legitimize the perspectives of writers who are interested in compassion for those who are not like themselves.
Of course, sometimes we make mistakes and there are things we will not know, but critics must have a relationship with and a respect for the theatre community if their writing is to be of any value at all. Rescripted has South Asian, African-American, White, Latinx and genderqueer writers on its staff. We have trained and employed a young person who writes regularly for us through our youth critics training program The Key. That program is returning this Fall. We will not wait for tolerance, we will instead write our way into the world in which we want to live.
Screenshots with highlighting courtesy of Ben Kaye.
Thousands of crystals dangle above the heads of Pittsburgh theater patrons, reflecting light onto the walls and ceilings of the elegant halls. The glass giants help create a distinct aesthetic for the cultural institutions, exuding charm and sophistication.
While watching an opera at the Benedum Center earlier this year, Good Question! listener Lou Martinage wondered just how many crystals chandeliers held there and at Heinz Hall.
This is part of our Good Question! series where we investigate what you've always wondered about Pittsburgh, its people and its culture.
"I'm fascinated by beautiful things," Martinage said. "Crystals are unique in that respect because they reflect the colors."
He said he tried counting them, but without binoculars, it was impossible to keep track of the strings of glass beads, prisms and flower-shaped figures. The Benedum Center chandelier is 12 feet in diameter and a towering 24 feet tall. It features a large basket-shape made of tightly strung beads, with candlesticks poking out of the top, illuminating the cake-like-layering in the center.
Benedum electrician Will Dennis oversees the cleaning of the giant fixture. Brushing his fingers against the glass, Dennis recounted the history of the old theater, christened in 1927 as the Stanley Theater movie palace.
For years, it was the area's largest cinema, and because it was owned by the Warner Bros., it showed all the company's films. In the 1970s, the Stanley hosted rock concerts, including Frank Zappa, The Grateful Dead and Prince.
Then, Dennis said, it fell into disrepair. In the 1980s the newly-formed Pittsburgh Cultural Trust took up the renovation of the Stanley and the nearby Loews-Penn, now Heinz Hall. Crews tried to stay true to the theaters' earliest design, including the Austrian crystal used in the chandeliers and the interior decor.
"A lot of the architecture that you see is original or replicated to be original," Dennis said.
Because there were no color photographs of the old theater, Dennis said workers restoring the floor found scraps of the original carpeting and tried to match the new material. There is no accurate architectural record of what types of crystal was used for which light fixtures, or the exact designs of the hall's friezes.
"What happened with the rock and roll kids...was not a lot of upkeep and a lot of things just got lost," Dennis said.
When the Stanley reopened as the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts in 1987, Dennis took on the project of maintaining the chandelier. He said one challenge was finding substitute crystals with shapes and colors that resemble originals, but the internet helped solve that problem.
"I try and keep it as close to [the original] as I can," Dennis said. If he can't acquire a replica, he'll make small adjustments, like switching amber prisms for light purple, or using a teardrop shape instead of a bead.
In its early days, Dennis said some Benedum patrons were a bit handsy, swiping crystals from eye-level fixtures in the halls.
"So I solder many of them so they couldn't be taken," Dennis said. "Then I found them online for 65 cents-a-piece and now I don't care. And now no one steals any."
The chandelier was last cleaned because the touring production of Aladdin was headed to Pittsburgh at the end of the summer, and crews wanted to polish the chandelier and check the electrical connections beforehand. Stagehands used mechanical and electric winches to lower it about 35 feet, so the amber leaf-like crystal at the bottom of the fixture swayed about a foot from the balcony floor. Dennis says he still remembers the first time he saw the chandelier up close.
"I expected it to be very big and garish and bold," Dennis said. "It's very delicate for its enormity."
The chandelier has more than 50,000 crystals and weighs about 4,700 pounds. Crystals, in this case, are counted as any piece of ornate glass in the fixtures--including bowls, pedals and beads. Dennis and his team clean the glass one-by-one, using a rag and Windex or other dusting chemicals. Four people can fit inside when it's disassembled. Twenty-one circuits connect 323 bulbs, which are controlled by 15 breakers.
Down the street at Heinz Hall, general manager Carl Mancuso said the theater's chandeliers were likely also originally comprised of Austrian crystal, the en vogue distributor of the material at the time. According to a write-up in QED Renaissance by Martin Schnedier, the twelve ovular fixtures were "designed and handcrafted to enhance the special decor of the hall by J. and L. Lobmeyr of Vienna, Austria."
They appear to be embedded in the ceiling of the main performance space.
"They look rather small when they're up there, but when they're down, they extend four or five rows of seats and are massive," Mancuso said.
But he's never actually counted the pieces, so WESA did. In each individual chandelier, there are about 2,900 crystals--mostly strings of beads gathering at the center in a layered flower design. Multiplied by 12, the total number of crystals comes to a little under 35,000.
*A previous version mentioned there were 500,000 crystals in the Benedum chandelier. There are actually 50,000.
Hollywood Could Be Surprised by a Massive Strike. Here Are Five Reasons Why
IATSE is a large collection of locals that are hard to organize, making a strike unlikely, but there are reasons the union considered to be toothless is finding its bite.
With less than a week left before IATSE's current contract expires, negotiations between the West Coast membership of IATSE and the AMPTP resumed Tuesday. On the surface, this shouldn't be cause for concern: Hollywood shows few outward signs of bracing for a strike. TV shows aren't discussing contingency plans, and AMPTP producers have confidence that the sticking points will be ironed out. Most of all, industry veterans dismiss the idea that IATSE, which represents the vast majority of production crew, would ever strike.
However, while history may not point to a work stoppage, there are five very good reasons why those assumptions are starting to crack.
Cathy Repola's Leadership
Two weeks ago, Cathy Repola, executive director of Motion Picture Editors Guild (Local 700), sent a letter to members that laid it out: She believed that the need for a strike authorization vote was near. "I wish I could say I am hopeful we will reach an acceptable agreement," she wrote, "but based on the direction this has been heading, I am skeptical at this time." After her letter leaked to the press, the AMPTP might have hoped that the 700 was just a rogue local — nothing that could detail the talks.
However, on July 21 Local 700 took a sledgehammer to that assumption. Editors filled a 1,200-person banquet hall at the Sheraton Universal Hotel, with another 600-plus members packed into an overflow room, to watch their leadership describe negotiations as reaching an "existential crisis," and proclaiming the vital need to speak with one voice in standing up for members' benefits and work hours. According to Cinemontage, the house organ for the editors' guild, Editors Guild president Alan Heim opened the meeting with his own proclamation: "Holy shit! I am so proud of this union!"
Marvel's Jessica Jones crew at work
David Giesbrecht/Netflix
This is exactly what the AMPTP didn't want. Concerted efforts draw attention, and potentially the interest of 43,000 West Coast IATSE members — something that, in the past, seemed impossible. Unlike the DGA or the WGA, targeted unions that have seen strikes of their own, IATSE is lumbering and unfocused. It's a collection of more than 375 locals in North America — many of which are outside film and television, and have no part in this — each with their own leadership and leadership style. Within film and TV, IATSE represents everyone from cinematographer Roger Deakins to the administrative staff in the production office to the prop masters on commercials. This makes strike authorization a challenging concept.
However, under Repola's leadership Local 700 has begun to act more like the tight-knit crew of the WGA as she communicates the issues at stake. IndieWire talked to a handful of editors who hadn't been particularly active in the union, but attended Saturday's meeting. They emerged with specific knowledge of the issues and a firm belief firm that IATSE should not bend in these talks.
"Cathy did an incredible job [outlining] how producers' proposals barely put a band-aid on a problem that is clearly going to get unsustainably worse," said one Local 700 member. "I left there with a sense of solidarity I never had before and a real understanding of why we need to make a stand now, not with the next contract."
A Simple Message
The issues under negotiation are extremely complicated and nuanced, and complexity is hard to turn into a rallying cry. However, IATSE has effectively framed an overarching concern: As the industry moves toward streaming, IATSE members are left out and at the expense of their pension and healthcare fund.
Unlike traditional TV and movies, streaming content has no financial second lives in DVD, cable, premium cable, and SVOD. No second life means no residuals, and that means funding for IATSE's pension and healthcare has dipped to critical levels.
"One of the things that bugs me is the constant use of the term 'new media,'" wrote one IATSE member in an email to IndieWire. "There's no such thing as 'new media,' it's just 'media.' It was coined by the powers that be as a way to avoid paying the content creators; 'We can't offer you guys residuals because we don't know where this new media is headed.'"
Late-night shoot on "Stranger Things"
Jackson Lee Davis/Netflix
Seeing where "new media" is headed is something IATSE members clearly understand. Not only do they watch Netflix Originals at home, a growing percentage now work on original streaming content. They know Netflix spends billions and have seen the announcements of top showrunners taking nine-figure deals, while Apple and AT&T prepare to make their own heavy investments to compete. Meanwhile, Amazon is run by the newly minted richest man in the world, Disney and CBS are preparing to make massive steps into the subscription video space, and Rupert Murdoch is selling Fox because he doesn't believe he can compete with the streamers.
With an underlying message that the crew is being cut out of this shifting business, endangering its healthcare and pension benefits, IATSE has a piercing narrative that creates a sense of urgency.
Social Media
When the WGA went on strike in 2007, Twitter had just started offering hashtags. More than a decade later, even the cacophony of the IATSE locals has unified with a strong social media presence. Private social media groups have become an extremely effective way to spread the word surrounding key issues.
Many locals now have robust, year-round Facebook pages that provide the communication and a sense of community that was once impossible. The Editors Guild Facebook discussion group I Am The Union has more than 3,000 members. The 2018 IATSE Contract Forum Facebook page has nearly 9,000 members. Meanwhile, an online petition outlining IATSE's basic demands and pledging to stand behind IATSE leadership is rapidly gathering signatures while also serving to inform unengaged members of the issues under negotiation.
Long Hours Are an Emotional Issue
Marvel's "Jessica Jones" crew
David Giesbrecht/Netflix
In conversations with IndieWire, a dozen veteran IATSE members stated unequivocally that work hours have gotten dramatically worse in recent years, with the pressure to move quicker and get more done in fewer work days becoming an industry trend that is taking its toll.
"It's gotten so much worse in the last decade or so," said one 35-year veteran and noted department head. "Everything is about doing more with less, including money, which means less days and more hours. I've gotten to the point I turn down work — which I'm lucky to be in a point in my career that I can —– because there's people I know I don't want to work with. Not creatively, but because they'll push it beyond what any union member should be giving of themselves."
The rules surrounding turnaround — the mandatory time crew has between wrap and the next day's call time — vary between the locals and the size of the production, but IATSE is fighting to ensure an across-the-board, 10-hour rest period.
"In LA, we often have jobs on the other side of town from where we live," said one Local 700 member. "It's miserable to leave work late knowing I have to cross town twice and be back in eight hours. A 10-hour turnaround would dramatically change the quality of my life."
The AMPTP agrees changes need to be made, but doesn't necessarily seem interested in shortening work hours or extending turnaround. Instead, they've suggested that productions be required to offer hotels and car services (something many already do), and instead of offering meal breaks instituting "French hours," in which food is available all day and the crew works continuously.
Unions are well aware that squeezing more out of a work day means fewer days, and one less shoot day can be a six-figure savings. More importantly, these counterproposals have already failed if the AMPTP hoped IATSE would remain disengaged. Extended hours are more than punching a time clock; relentless work hours are emotionally grinding and dangerous, and IATSE has seen multiple driving accidents after members drove home after long shifts.
According to Cinemontage, a private Facebook page includes a photomontage of six union workers who fell asleep at the wheel and died driving home after a long shift. While Repola reportedly drew a rousing standing ovation on Saturday night when she said, "You guys need personal and family time."
The Imaginary Residuals
Behind the scenes of Netflix's "Godless"
Ursula Coyote/Netflix
The problem of residuals lacks an easy fix. When a show like USA's "Mr. Robot" sold its SVOD rights to Amazon Prime, the transaction came with a set dollar amount; within that, there's a predetermined residual union payout. Streaming has none of those certainties, and in negotiations with the DGA and WGA the AMPTP attempted to address the issue with an "imaginary" residual associated with international streaming. Of course, a Netflix Original show like "Dear White People" didn't sell any international rights; it appears on Netflix in foreign countries. Further complicating matters is the AMPTP believes this so-called international residual doesn't apply to IATSE.
Meanwhile, the AMPTP believes the five major studios have paid more than their fair share in recent IATSE contracts and is trying to pull back a 10 percent pension increase that IATSE won in the previous negotiations; AMPTP argues that the burden of that pension bump should be borne by "smaller" producing entities, rather than the top ten to twenty producing entities in the AMPTP behind a large percentage of Film and TV production.
Herein lies what might be the most difficult aspect of these talks: In the convoluted media landscape of 2018, does the AMPTP speak with a unified voice for the producers behind Hollywood's content creation, or for the vested interests of the five studios that are fighting their own existential battle with streaming?
IndieWire has asked repeatedly, both on the record and off, how the interests of Netflix, Amazon and Apple – which aren't AMPTP members – are being represented in these talks and has yet to receive a clear answer.In the past, however, they have followed the terms negotiated.
What A Strike Might Look Like
Currently under negotiation is the contract for West Coast IATSE members, but locals 700 and 600 (cinematographers) are national unions that cover nearly 16,000 members. The East Coast wing of IATSE, facing similar issues in their upcoming negotiations, would be unlikely to cross picket lines if editors and cinematographers strike (as if it would matter, since you can't make a show without those technicians).
IndieWire can report that at a recent meeting of Teamsters Local 399 the suggestion of supporting a possible IATSE strike received a standing ovation. Meanwhile DGA members, who are often forced to make impossible decisions about keeping crews late, have long argued that it is time for studios to set clear and human working guidelines.
Since the AMPTP may not believe IATSE would strike, it's unclear if they have wholly considered the potential optics. Everyone acknowledges that crews are overworked and under appreciated; lining up against that would not be a good look. And when the issue is framed as all-powerful tech companies spending billions to build a streaming future that won't fully fund crew benefits or maintain a humane workday, the AMPTP will likely be unable to control the narrative.
Getting tens of thousands of IATSE employees unified to make a stand remains a serious barrier, and points to there not being a strike — but what has long been considered a toothless union is finding its bite.
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated IATSE has never striked. In its 125 year history IATSE has striked countless times and even in recent years individual locals have made the ultimate stand. This is especially true when looking beyond the locals representing TV/Film crew. In regards to this particular collection of locals that make up a bulk of the production crew, in the modern era IATSE has not staged a collective work stoppage and contract negotiations rarely are pushed to the deadline. It is also important to note, that while the current negotiations discussed in this article are focused on the basic benefits being collectively negotiated for these 13 west coast locals, each of those locals has its own individual contract that is tailored to the specific jobs of its members.
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