Hollywood’s behind-the-scenes workers could cripple the entertainment industry with strike
In the skies over Hollywood a small plane pulls a banner reading “vote yes”.
On a monitor on a movie set, the same words are scrawled on a piece of luminous tape.
On a crane hoisting bits of scenery into place, the same slogan is emblazoned in big letters.
The workers are angry about their pay and conditions
That simple message is at the heart of a dispute which could shut down movie and television production across the United States within days.
The 60,000 members of the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) are voting this weekend on whether to authorise the first strike in the union’s history.
If it goes ahead it would be the biggest private sector strike in the US for decades and would cripple much of the country’s entertainment industry.
The union represents the behind-the-scenes workers, camera operators, stage hands, set designers, dozens of jobs in the armies it takes to create our favourite shows and movies.
They are unhappy at what they see as longer shifts, poor working conditions and low pay. An industry that has just emerged from the shutdown of the pandemic is ready for more wholesale disruption in the cause of fairness.
IATSE members have received support from across the entertainment industry and members have flooded the Instagram account @ia_stories with their unhappy tales of life in the business.
Cinematographer Peyton Skelton crashed his car after an 80-hour week
Cinematographer Peyton Skelton recounted how he had crashed his car driving home from work early on a Saturday morning after an 80-hour week. “The toll on the body and toll on the mentality of each worker is great,” he told Sky News.
Members often talk about Friday work rolling into Saturday mornings, the so-called “fraturday” shift.
Union members are also unhappy that many discounted pay rates agreed with streaming services when they were new players on the production scene are still in force despite the explosive growth of those firms.
“Flash forward 12 years later and streaming is obviously the thing, it’s the main game in town and it’s the future but it’s also the present,” said Gene Maddaus of Variety magazine.
“Big budget stuff is happening under these lower wage contracts and major streaming companies are using these lower wages and the unions are saying this is basically a loophole at this point.”
It is 14 years since writers in Hollywood went on strike for 14 weeks, a shutdown that was estimated to have cost the industry hundreds of millions of dollars.
This strike would be far more wide-ranging, with members from almost every area and stage of production. A handful of TV firms on different contracts would not be affected.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents the major studios, said it has put forward an offer to meet the union’s demands. Negotiations are likely to continue even if IATSE members vote “yes”.
“We love our jobs and know we are lucky to have them,” said Peyton Skelton, “but these things need to be addressed.”
US
Donald Trump on day one: Pace of change ‘like nothing you’ve seen in history’, warns campaign official
Within hours of taking office, president-elect Donald Trump plans to begin rolling out policies including large-scale deportations, according to his transition team.
Sky News partner network NBC News has spoken with more than half a dozen people familiar with the executive orders that his team plans to enact.
One campaign official said changes are expected at a pace that is “like nothing you’ve seen in history”, to signal a dramatic break from President Joe Biden’s administration.
Mr Trump is preparing on day one to overturn specific policies put in place by Mr Biden. Among the measures, reported by sources close to the transition team, are:
• The speedy and large-scale deportations of illegal immigrants
• Ending travel reimbursement for military members seeking abortion care
• Restricting transgender service members’ access to gender-affirming care
But much of the first day is likely to focus on stopping illegal immigration – the centrepiece of Trump’s candidacy. He is expected to sign up to five executive orders aimed at dealing with that issue alone after he is sworn in on 20 January.
“There will without question be a lot of movement quickly, likely day one, on the immigration front,” a top Trump ally said.
“There will be a push to make a huge early show and assert himself to show his campaign promises were not hollow.”
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Donald Trump ally Matt Gaetz has withdrawn his name from consideration to be the next US attorney general.
But Mr Trump’s campaign pledges also could be difficult to implement.
Deporting people on the scale he wants will be a logistical challenge that could take years. Questions also remain about promised tax cuts.
Meanwhile, his pledge to end the war between Russia and Ukraine in just 24 hours would be near impossible.
Read more:
Police file on Trump pick, Pete Hegseth
Matt Gaetz withdraws from top job
Watch: Musk and Trump’s bromance
Even so, advisers based at Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort or at nearby offices in West Palm Beach, Florida, are reportedly strategising about ending the wars in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Following his decisive victory on 5 November, the president-elect has moved swiftly to build a cabinet and senior White House team.
As of Thursday, he had selected more than 30 people for senior positions in his administration, compared with just three at a similar point in his 2016 transition.
Stephen Moore, a senior economic adviser in Mr Trump’s campaign, told NBC News: “The thing to realise is Trump is no dummy.
“He knows he’s got two to three years at most to get anything done. And then he becomes a lame duck and we start talking about [the presidential election in] 2028.”
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports8 months agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports3 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business2 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway