A year after the Covid-19 pandemic shuttered the entertainment industry worldwide, the studios are churning out content at a breakneck pace. Workers are in high demand, and it has been hard for some shows to find enough grips and set decorators to keep up.
It’s somewhat strange, then, to think that it could all come to a screeching halt.
But this weekend, the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees will hold a vote on whether to authorize a strike that would once again shut down the industry. The vote is expected to pass by an overwhelming margin, giving International President Matthew D. Loeb the power to call 60,000 workers off the job.
In some ways, the high demand for content has helped push the situation to the brink. Many production workers are feeling exhausted by long hours, but they also feel they finally have the leverage to do something about it.
It’s somewhat strange, then, to think that it could all come to a screeching halt.
But this weekend, the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees will hold a vote on whether to authorize a strike that would once again shut down the industry. The vote is expected to pass by an overwhelming margin, giving International President Matthew D. Loeb the power to call 60,000 workers off the job.
In some ways, the high demand for content has helped push the situation to the brink. Many production workers are feeling exhausted by long hours, but they also feel they finally have the leverage to do something about it.
- 9/30/2021
- by Gene Maddaus
- Variety Film + TV
Howard Fabrick, one of Hollywood's top experts on labor and employment law, has joined the Los Angeles office of law firm Barnes & Thornburg as a partner. Fabrick, who previously spent 13 years with La firm Akin Gump and 18 yeras with Proskauer Rose, has been featured in THR's annual Power Lawyers issue for his experience handling tricky guild issues and employment disputes. He joined the new firm Jan 1. Photos: Crazy Cases! 18 of Hollywood's Outrageous Entertainment Lawsuits Fabrick recently worked on Immortals and the upcoming Mirror, Mirror for Relativity, Hugo for Gk Films, Red Tails for Lucasfilm, and
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- 1/5/2012
- by Matthew Belloni
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
AFTRA has reached an agreement with video-game employers to extend its interactive-media contract for one year.
Terms of the extension for the union’s collective-bargaining agreement covering performers in video games include a bump in compensation and contributions to AFTRA’s health and retirement plans.
The extension goes from Dec. 31 to Dec. 31, 2009. Under its terms, performers will receive a 3% increase in initial compensation for all session fees and a half-percent increase in health and retirement contributions, both starting Jan. 1.
"We are pleased to have reached an extension agreement with the major video-game employers that keeps AFTRA members working and secures solid increases in wages and benefits on par with the five other major national contracts AFTRA negotiated earlier this year," said Denny Delk, chairman of AFTRA's interactive media steering committee. "It's a testament to the vision and bargaining power of AFTRA members that, in a time of global economic crisis,...
Terms of the extension for the union’s collective-bargaining agreement covering performers in video games include a bump in compensation and contributions to AFTRA’s health and retirement plans.
The extension goes from Dec. 31 to Dec. 31, 2009. Under its terms, performers will receive a 3% increase in initial compensation for all session fees and a half-percent increase in health and retirement contributions, both starting Jan. 1.
"We are pleased to have reached an extension agreement with the major video-game employers that keeps AFTRA members working and secures solid increases in wages and benefits on par with the five other major national contracts AFTRA negotiated earlier this year," said Denny Delk, chairman of AFTRA's interactive media steering committee. "It's a testament to the vision and bargaining power of AFTRA members that, in a time of global economic crisis,...
- 11/12/2008
- by By Leslie Simmons
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The latest deadline in the stalled talks between SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers has officially passed.
The AMPTP had given SAG until Friday to have its members ratify the studios' final offer made on June 30, when the actors contract expired. If the union did so, the offer would be retroactive to July 1.
SAG rejected the AMPTP's offer and made a comprehensive counterproposal, which the AMPTP in turn dismissed.
A ticker on the AMPTP's Web site calculates that SAG has lost more than $10.3 million in the past 45 days by not ratifying its offer. The figure is based on the AMPTP's proposal package, which it says is worth $250 million.
"By continuing to reject the producers' final offer, SAG's negotiators have ensured that their members will lose out not only on salary and other economic increases but also the new-media rights and residuals already available to all other guild members," the AMPTP said.
When SAG and AFTRA were negotiating their video game contract, companies involved in those talks made an offer that also included a retroactive perk.
AFTRA members accepted the offer, while SAG members did not. Yet when SAG eventually accepted the deal, the companies agreed to make the contract retroactive -- though they didn't go as far back as AFTRA's deal.
"Retroactivity is almost always a bargaining issue," said labor attorney Howard Fabrick, a onetime AMPTP chief negotiator. "It puts pressure on the members of the union. It's a dangling carrot, and the working members will put pressure on the union saying, 'You have to accept it.'"
The last formal meeting between SAG and the AMPTP was in July. Yet in an Aug. 3 message to members, SAG's chief negotiator and national executive director Doug Allen claimed smaller "group meetings and exchanges" were ongoing with AMPTP reps and industry leaders.
The claim was rejected by some in the guild. "We're of the belief there's nothing going on," a New York board member told THR.
A studio exec close to the negotiations said the guild has been told, "If they want to talk with the studios, they have to do it though the AMPTP."
The next big date in the saga is Sept. 18. That's when members will either re-elect those who control the majority of the national board -- known as MembershipFirst -- or elect those who are part of the opposing faction, Unite for Strength.
"I see MembershipFirst hopefully getting voted out," the New York-based SAG member said. "That would depend on the L.A. membership, but then you would have some chance for meaningful dialogue between the two parties."
If MembershipFirst is able to retain its control, it could strengthen its position. That could lead to a strike-authorization vote being taken to SAG membership, something leadership has been hesitant to do amid the guild's factional infighting.
"If current leadership remains in power, they may view that as a vote of confidence to seek that strike authorization," Fabrick said.
If Unite for Strength wins the majority, it might cause the AMPTP to be more open to bargaining again. "If you've reached an impasse with a group that then gets new leadership with different players on the one side, it does change the attitude of the employer to meet with them," the labor attorney said. "They don't have a history of antagonisms. It could very well be constructive."
But as one management exec noted, "A change could be positive, but the studios aren't going to give away the store just because new people are there."...
The AMPTP had given SAG until Friday to have its members ratify the studios' final offer made on June 30, when the actors contract expired. If the union did so, the offer would be retroactive to July 1.
SAG rejected the AMPTP's offer and made a comprehensive counterproposal, which the AMPTP in turn dismissed.
A ticker on the AMPTP's Web site calculates that SAG has lost more than $10.3 million in the past 45 days by not ratifying its offer. The figure is based on the AMPTP's proposal package, which it says is worth $250 million.
"By continuing to reject the producers' final offer, SAG's negotiators have ensured that their members will lose out not only on salary and other economic increases but also the new-media rights and residuals already available to all other guild members," the AMPTP said.
When SAG and AFTRA were negotiating their video game contract, companies involved in those talks made an offer that also included a retroactive perk.
AFTRA members accepted the offer, while SAG members did not. Yet when SAG eventually accepted the deal, the companies agreed to make the contract retroactive -- though they didn't go as far back as AFTRA's deal.
"Retroactivity is almost always a bargaining issue," said labor attorney Howard Fabrick, a onetime AMPTP chief negotiator. "It puts pressure on the members of the union. It's a dangling carrot, and the working members will put pressure on the union saying, 'You have to accept it.'"
The last formal meeting between SAG and the AMPTP was in July. Yet in an Aug. 3 message to members, SAG's chief negotiator and national executive director Doug Allen claimed smaller "group meetings and exchanges" were ongoing with AMPTP reps and industry leaders.
The claim was rejected by some in the guild. "We're of the belief there's nothing going on," a New York board member told THR.
A studio exec close to the negotiations said the guild has been told, "If they want to talk with the studios, they have to do it though the AMPTP."
The next big date in the saga is Sept. 18. That's when members will either re-elect those who control the majority of the national board -- known as MembershipFirst -- or elect those who are part of the opposing faction, Unite for Strength.
"I see MembershipFirst hopefully getting voted out," the New York-based SAG member said. "That would depend on the L.A. membership, but then you would have some chance for meaningful dialogue between the two parties."
If MembershipFirst is able to retain its control, it could strengthen its position. That could lead to a strike-authorization vote being taken to SAG membership, something leadership has been hesitant to do amid the guild's factional infighting.
"If current leadership remains in power, they may view that as a vote of confidence to seek that strike authorization," Fabrick said.
If Unite for Strength wins the majority, it might cause the AMPTP to be more open to bargaining again. "If you've reached an impasse with a group that then gets new leadership with different players on the one side, it does change the attitude of the employer to meet with them," the labor attorney said. "They don't have a history of antagonisms. It could very well be constructive."
But as one management exec noted, "A change could be positive, but the studios aren't going to give away the store just because new people are there."...
- 8/15/2008
- by By Leslie Simmons
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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