IATSE and AMPTP Close to Deal to Avert Crippling Hollywood Strike
Negotiators for IATSE and Hollywood’s major studios are closing in on a deal that would avert a strike that has threatened to shutter most film and TV production in Hollywood.
Industry sources said virtual negotiations between the sides went late into Friday night as Carol Lombardini, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers bargaining organization for the major studios, addressed numerous IATSE leaders about the details of deals on thorny issues of working conditions that were sorted through in the marathon sessions.
Industry sources cited Peter Rice, chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content, and veteran entertainment attorney Ken Ziffren as key players who helped Lombardini bridge the gap during the past few days. Sources said Lombardini and Loeb both knuckled down on a key items list with a mutual understanding that a strike would cripple the industry that is only now starting to recover from the shock of COVID.
One move from the studio said that helped move things along was a hike in the raise schedule over the three-year term of the deal. Instead of basic minimums rising 3% in year one of the deal and 2.5% for the remaining two years, the contract will bring 3% hikes per year.
Sources familiar with the talks said Lombardini spent several hours on a video conference call discussing the deal terms, pension and health plan issues and the general quality-of-life concerns that brought IATSE to the brink of a nationwide strike for the first time in the union’s nearly 130-year history.
https://variety.com/2021/tv/locations/iatse-hollywood-deal-strike-studios-1235090873/