Hollywood Basic Agreement Negotiations Concluded
Seven Months Early
We all know to get there early to get the best seats. Often,
the first in gets the best assignment. And we've all heard that
the early bird catches the worm.
Our new contract for the 30,000 IATSE members working in motion
picture and television production is forged upon hard-won improvements
and is, quite frankly, the envy of the industry. The new Hollywood
Basic Agreement between the IATSE crafts and the Alliance of
Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) is for three
years beginning August 1, 2006.
If the industry keeps performing as it is now, it will be three
very good years for IATSE members and their families.
The IATSE has secured improvements for both active members and
retirees, wage increases to all the basic pay scales, health
care benefits protections for all members and their families,
increased employer contributions to the active members’ IAP
accounts, and increases in the employer contributions to the
pension and health plans.
We owe the success of this agreement to the solidarity of the
IATSE West Coast Studio Locals and to one of the many profound
changes International President Thomas C. Short brought to the
IATSE since assuming leadership in 1994: his firm determination
to press for early negotiations with the Hollywood producers.
The early negotiations, a full seven months before the agreement's
expiration, sent a clear signal that a stable work environment
between producers and IA locals can increase IATSE job security
and boost overall production within the industry.
Experts have remarked that locking up negotiations in advance
of the expiration of a prevailing agreement acts as an insurance
policy in the event of an industry work stoppage. True. But it's
an insurance policy the Hollywood Producers bought from the IATSE
by improving wages and benefits.
"Early negotiations allow producers to anticipate labor
costs in advance of production without the threat of interruption," noted
Matthew Loeb, Director of Motion Picture and Television Production,
IATSE, based in New York. "In no small measure it is the
wisest and most effective tool protecting working men and women
in our industry."
So it was only after a long day of hard bargaining and very
late on Friday evening, December 16, 2005 that the negotiating
representatives from the IATSE West Coast Studio Locals voted
overwhelming to recommend ratification to their membership of
the new Hollywood Basic Agreement. Here are some of the reasons
they so strongly endorsed the new Hollywood Basic Agreement:
> The IATSE obtained increases in wage scales by seventy-five
cents per hour in the first year of the Agreement, with an additional
3% per hour in each of the two subsequent years, with those percentage
increases compounded.
> The Producers’ contributions to the Defined Benefit
Pension Plan increased by 25 cents per hour
> Trustees of the Pension Plan were given recommendations
that will allow retirees to receive a 13th and 14th check during
the full term of the Agreement provided the level of reserves
remains at least 8 months. Additionally, provided the minimum
level of reserves does not drop below 8 months by the first quarter
of 2009, a 10% increase in pension contributions for active employees
will also be made by the producers retroactive to August 1, 2006.
> Employer contributions to the Individual Account Plan (IAP)
increased from 5% to 5.5%, and further rising to 6% in the Agreement's
final year. These percentage increases are in addition to the
current contribution rate of 30.5 cents per hour into the IAP
for each hour worked or guaranteed.
> Producers’ contributions to the Motion Picture Industry
Health Plan increased an additional 25 cents per hour, allowing
for the continuation of health care premiums to be paid 100%
by the Employer.
> Four new job classifications were recognized in the Agreement
and include Foley Artists, Marine Department employees, Base
Camp employees performing, installing, connecting and striking
temporary and portable power sources, and Balloon Lighting Technicians.
> Meal penalties for television work in studios or on stages
were increased by $1, and the Producers agreed to work with the
IATSE toward resolving problems relating to rest periods, turnaround
times and hotel accommodations. IATSE negotiators held firm in
their mandate that employees must receive a meal break after
six hours of work.
> New technologies such as “mobisodes” which
provide product for viewing on cellular telephones, will be discussed
with Producers as the technology evolves.
> The Long-Form Television side letter will be modified to
include productions made for DVDs and/or videocassettes, subject
to a cap of $9 million.
> And, the Producers agreed to improve the monitoring of
incomes from supplemental markets to ensure greater accountability
and compliance to protect IA pension and health plans.
Hollywood, like most of the nation, is beset by staggering costs
for health care and prescription drugs, and a continued winnowing
down of health and retirement benefits.
Making the industry less secure are other entertainment guilds,
each of whom will soon be entering into negotiations with Producers
that experts predict will be contentious. (After all, our gains
are the envy of the industry.) Given that, it would seem prudent
for all IA members to guard family and personal finances in the
event of a stoppage by the other film and television unions and
guilds.
Though other unions may make the industry seem less secure,
the many, many gains the IATSE has made under this new Hollywood
Basic Agreement have been made rock-solid by President Short's
dedication to concluding an early agreement and the broad solidarity
of the IATSE craft locals.
For the second consecutive year, film, television and commercial
shoots in Southern California reached new highs. Fueled by a
continued boom in reality TV, as well as a solid pipeline of
new and existing television dramas, the number of production
days in 2005 was up 23% in the past two years, according to Film
L.A., Inc., a private, non-profit corporation set up in 1995
to streamline the film permit process in Southern California.
Experts said that given the more than $30 billion in revenue
the industry pumps into the California economy, the explosive
growth in production levels over the past year was a key indicator
to the region’s overall economic health.
”There are some who thought 2004’s hectic TV pilot
season would cool in 2005,” noted Joe Aredas, International
Representative- in-Charge of the IATSE West Coast Office. “But
many people feel this will turn out to be one of the busiest local
pilot seasons ever.” Long-running TV hits shot in L.A., like “24”, “Monk” and “The
Shield”, helped to boost overall production by 30% when combined
with levels from 2004. Feature films were up as well. Movie production
accounted for nearly one-fifth of the roughly fifty-five thousand
days of overall production this past year, a gain of 9% over 2004.
Given that the number of features had declined from 1997-2003,
as cost-conscious studios tightened their output and chose to shoot
films in cheaper locales, industry watchers said a sustained two-year
run-up in production levels would likely mean a continued rise
in 2006. Many cited the weakening dollar as a factor in helping
to boost local production. Commercial production was the third
leg of the stool that helped to prop up L.A.’s wobbling economy,
clocking in with 6,983 production days this past year, up 4% from
2004.
“These unprecedented levels of growth were due in no small
part to the strength of the workforce,” Aredas added. “The
thousands of dedicated union men and women working on film and
TV productions in Southern California are rock-solid in both
their commitment to the industry and the contracts they work
under. Employers like that kind of stability.”
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