IATSE and Studios Reach Tentative Area Standards Agreement
IATSE and the AMPTP have reached a tentative agreement on all issues for the Area Standards agreement, the two announced in a joint statement on Thursday night. The deal comes on the heels of IATSE and AMPTP reaching a deal on the Hollywood Basic agreement earlier this week.
The tentative agreement is now pending ratification by the unions’ membership. Members and signatories will have the opportunity to review the agreement in the form of a detailed summary in the days to come, followed by a Memorandum of Agreement at a later date.
IA’s Area Standards Agreement locals issued a memo to members on Thursday night immediately following news of the tentative agreement outlining more context and details on what has been agreed upon. Most of the gains outlined were also included in the tentative Hollywood Basic Agreement reached on Tuesday.
Some of the improvements gained in the ASA tentative agreement include:
- Scale wage rate increases of 7%, 4%, and 3.5% over the three-year term.
- Additional regional wage adjustments
- A uniform benefit contribution rate for all jurisdictions with significant increases in both health and retirement representing as much as a $63 increase per employee, per day in some areas.
- Triple time paid after 15 elapsed hours
- 33% increase in the Nearby Hire living allowance
- Comprehensive Artificial Intelligence provisions that defines our covered work and protects against prompts used to displace a covered employee.
- Juneteenth added as a holiday
- New Media Sideletter moved into the body of the agreement with the elimination of delayed 2nd season rates for all high-budget streaming series.
- Bereavement Leave
In addition to local town hall meetings, a multi-local webinar will take place on Sunday, July 14th at 4 PM EST to review the proposed language in the MOA.
The question now is whether these contracts will be approved by a heavily engaged IATSE membership. In the last ratification vote in 2021, the IATSE contract was only approved via the union’s delegate voting system, which gives more weight to locals with higher membership. In the overall vote, 50.4% of members voted to reject the proposed Hollywood Basic Agreement, but eight of the 13 locals voted in favor of ratification.
The AMPTP will now pivot to negotiations with Teamsters Local 399, which represents drivers, animal trainers, casting directors, and wranglers, among other positions. Talks between the AMPTP and Teamsters began earlier this month, and the union has informed the studios that it will not agree to any extensions to its contract deadline, which expires on July 31.
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