On September 18, as powerful industry brokers prepared to televise the Primetime Emmy Awards, approximately 2,800 artisans from Local 700 – which represents Hollywood publishers – participated in a remote call from about four hours to discuss options if their umbrella union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Employees, were to call tens of thousands of its 150,000 members to strike. At least one other local held a similar call over the awards weekend.

The IATSE, which represents crew members including grips, filmmakers, editors, costumers, hairdressers and more, informed members on September 20 that it would hold a strike authorization vote nationally (no date has been disclosed) in the context of increasingly tense contract negotiations with producers. Thirteen West Coast locals have been negotiating their next three-year contract for film and television with the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP) in stages for months, and after producers refused to respond to their latest proposal, union leaders, led by IATSE president Matthew Loeb, has vowed to push for “a long overdue change in this industry.” AMPTP replied that it had presented a “comprehensive proposal” which the union withdrew. (IATSE is also currently negotiating its agreement on film and television zone standards covering areas outside of LA and New York; approximately 60,000 members are covered by the two agreements.)

If IATSE members vote to authorize a strike, it could impact a number of unionized film and television projects on the West Coast and nationwide at a time when production in Los Angeles and in New York has finally rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. While a strike would be a challenge for both management and workers in the short term, IATSE members say they have reached this point due to a combination of coincident factors, including a return to intensive production schedules after pandemic breaks and delays and a new climate where crew members are ready to share their experiences on social media. (A member of the Motion Pictures Editors Guild who asked to remain anonymous in order to speak freely notes: “Because of social media, people are really saying, ‘Oh, I’m not the only one going through this.’)

Members also feel that IATSE must fight now or risk losing more in future negotiations. “If things go wrong and the producers get what they want, then the unlivable conditions we have now are going to look like preschools,” said Amanda Darouie, a second camera assistant from Local 600.

Although the threat of a strike only recently surfaced, IATSE members say it responds to working conditions which have long been a problem and which the pandemic has highlighted. While many colleagues were out of work in 2020, Meagan Arnold, a stage lighting technician at Local 487, saw new conversations about the safety risks of a 12-hour workday and the desire of crew members to spend more time with their families on industry Facebook groups. (Crew members have for years contested the production’s standard long hours of work, dangers that director and cinematographer Haskell Wexler covered in his 2006 documentary. Who needs sleep?)

“I really thought when we got back to work this year that things would be different,” says Arnold. “And then, very quickly, I work 16 hours a day. I worked a 20 hour day a few weeks ago.

The issue of rest periods “has come to a standstill, especially in the aftermath of COVID, when rest was more reliable and 10-hour days were on the table,” adds Darouie. (Top guilds recommended 10-hour days as production restarted at the start of the pandemic.) IATSE members argue that contractual penalties are not tough enough to deter productions from violating cut-off times. compulsory rest, which varies according to the profession. AMPTP said on September 20 that its proposal included “significant improvements to rest periods” for those working on the first season television series and for post-production workers on the television series, pilots, feature films. footage and distant places. During this round of negotiations, IATSE members are also seeking to increase the wages of artisans whose minimum contractual hourly rate is less than $ 18 per hour.

Similar to the grassroots movement #PayUpHollywood, which began in 2019 to raise awareness and improve the paltry wages of support staff, members of the union’s Local 871 launched #IALivingWage over the summer, which saw coordinators from screenplay, writing assistants, assistant production co-ordinators and others telling stories on social media of struggles to make ends meet.

Bill Wolkoff – a writer-producer and member of Local 839 (soon to negotiate his own framework agreement with AMPTP) and former assistant to writers and script coordinator – notes that he has offered salaries that don’t were “not viable”. “If a strike were to occur even on this one issue, and if it disrupted my life, I am personally ready to support [it]He said, adding: “We need to make access more equitable and inclusive for people who do not come from privileged backgrounds. (AMPTP’s proposal to unions called for minimum rate increases of 10% to 19% for this group of workers, he said on September 20.)

Because the leaders of the IATSE have given priority to these working conditions and to others generally shared in their discussions with the producers this time around, “the solidarity between the inhabitants and the members when discussing these negotiations and the possibilities that might arise out of them was incredibly strong, ”said Andrew. Mueller, chief lighting designer, cinematographer and operator who belongs to Locals 600 and 728.

While details of the talks are withheld during the period of a media blackout from negotiations, IATSE leaders have stressed in their communications with members that they are focused on securing more substantial rest periods and penalties for productions that skip meal breaks or require crews to work weekends; the establishment of a higher base wage for boats with low minimum rates; and get increased pay from streaming projects – some of which the union says don’t pay ladder wages or offer retirement hours due to a stale deal to help support the once-in-a-lifetime future. uncertain of “new media” – as well as additional funding for his health and pension plan. (AMPTP said it had proposed to increase the minimums on certain “new media” productions by 18% on average and proposed to “cover the forecast deficit of nearly $ 400 million” in the pension and health plan. of IATSE.)

Meanwhile, the vigorous use of social media by IATSE members during this period of negotiations has helped rally members around many of these particular issues. Shortly after #IALivingWage started, IA Stories, an Instagram account that focuses in part on the need for longer rest periods, drew tens of thousands of people by posting mostly anonymous stories of workers who say in be fed up or exhausted by their current working conditions and schedules. Mueller says crew members now feel a lot more comfortable than before when it comes to speaking publicly about their unhappiness: a choppy culture mentality to justify these conditions we work under.

To authorize a strike, a majority of delegates from the participating locals (each with a specific number of delegate votes) must vote in favor of the authorization. In order for a local to individually support the authorization, at least 75% of eligible members who vote must vote “yes”. Voting will take place simultaneously in locals via email and as a result, IATSE members say they were recently reminded to make sure their contact details are up to date with the union.

The vote will test the confidence of union members in their combined influence, as well as their willingness to take a risk. “This year things are different from what they were before; I think a lot more members will be ready to vote for it, ”suggests Kyle Gilman, Editors Guild member and editor. “I think it would be in the best interests of all members to vote for this strike authorization, whether or not they want to go on strike. Anybody wants go on strike.”

Carolyn Giardina contributed to this report.

A version of this story first appeared in the September 22 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.