A strike by Hollywood film crews that threatened to cripple the US film industry from Monday was narrowly averted, with an agreement on the working conditions of these technical employees being reached, the report said. main union in the sector.
“It’s a Hollywood movie ending,” Matthew Loeb, president of the IATSE union, which represents tens of thousands of these entertainment workers, said in a statement on Saturday night.
Camera operators, set builders, costume designers, make-up artists… These employees threatened to strike from midnight Sunday in the face of the blocking of negotiations on a new collective agreement.
The deal has yet to be approved by union members.
Despite months of discussions, the Alliance of Film and Television Producers (AMPTP) – which notably represents Disney, Warner or even Netflix – refused to accede to some of their demands.
The now proposed agreement “addresses fundamental issues, including reasonable rest periods, meal breaks, living wages for those at the bottom of the pay scale, and consequent increases in compensation” on the part of workers. companies, in particular listed the union’s statement.
“We took on some of the richest and most powerful technology and entertainment companies in the world, and we got a deal with AMPTP that meets the needs of our members,” added Matthew Loeb.
AMPTP confirmed the deal to CNN, without commenting further.
The movement of these technical workers had obtained many marks of support, for example from actors like Julia Louis-Dreyfus or Samuel L. Jackson, but also from left political figures like Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren.
The last major social movement Hollywood experienced was the writers’ strike that paralyzed the American audiovisual sector in 2007-2008. The hundred-day conflict caused a shortfall of two billion dollars, according to independent estimates.
But the little hands of the cinema have not put down their camera, brush or prop since 1945, when a six-month strike degenerated into violent clashes in front of Warner Bros. studios.