EXCLUSIVE: Hollywood is on the brink tonight as talks continue between IATSE and AMPTP in hopes of avoiding a strike early next week that could cripple most of the industry. “Suppose there will be a strike and hopefully not,” Local 800 members were told this afternoon at the first of two planned virtual city councils.
“It seems 50/50 at the moment, but that could change quickly either way with the mood in the room,” another source close to the conversations told News Primer. At one point earlier this week, it seemed like NBCUniversal’s owner, Comcast, was the biggest obstacle to a solution. However, the general situation has become more fluid, to some extent.
Given that the union set a deadline of October 18 at 12:01 a.m. M. For its members to demonstrate at the pickets, the ball will soon be back in the producers’ court.
Deep in the search for a deal to avoid a Tinseltown Def Con One, the IATSE bargaining team led by union boss Matt Loeb is working to deliver its latest proposal to the AMPTP for a new three-year deal to cover salary increase issues. for assistants and script coordinators, penalties on meal breaks, increased rest period, and more.
“We have had an exchange with our employers and we are preparing our response,” reported members of the Art Directors Guild on Thursday. Sources close to the talks confirm that AMPTP expects a new proposal from IATSE leaders early today or tomorrow. The speed at which AMPTP chief Carol Lombardini responds to that response could set the tone for the last 60 hours of conversations.
At the same time, with more than 21 picket sites planned for Monday morning, IATSE sent members detailed FAQs on what to do, what to take home, where to be next week, and what financial assistance they may or may not be for. eligible in the event of a strike. Despite some generational tensions over the actual strike, nearly 90% of eligible union voters in the 60,000-member bargaining unit cast their vote for a strike authorization between October 1-3. As a result that not even people like Vladimir Putin can get their election rigged, the smooth and legally conducted IATSE vote came back with 98% in favor of granting Loeb and other leaders the strike authorization they requested.
After weeks of sitting in their hands, AMPTP returned to the virtual negotiating table with IATSE the day after the result of the vote was announced on October 4. They have been in conversation ever since, but IATSE said yesterday that if there is no agreement by 12:01 AM on Monday, it looks like the shutdown will begin and picket signs will go up.
To that end, members are told to make sure their time cards are complete and to take their belongings and kits home on Friday at the end of the day, if they can.