NYTimes.com: Bitter disputes over health and pension payments to union members have created plenty of drama in states and cities this year. But do not look for a movie about it — Hollywood will be too busy dealing with a labor crisis of its own.
After three relatively peaceful years, the entertainment industry is bracing for a showdown next spring. At issue is an enormous projected shortfall in financing for some of the most jealously guarded perks in show business, the heavily gilded health and pension plans.
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I was in NYC this summer working at Hudson Scenic when a couple of the USA contracts went up for re-negotiations and it was a topic of some concern for the shops that were not directly being effected by it. While Hudson was unconcerned with it, I got the ipression from some of the USA guys that a few shops were having a hard enough time re-negotiating that there was a chance that if the shop re-opened it might have lost enough business to not be able to run at full production for a pretty long time. The article mentioned that it's been a long time since the last industry wide strike, which just makes me even more concerned about what would happen in all of IATSE really did decided to.
Half a billion dollars, you say? Wow, this showdown should be epic indeed. There is a huge understatement in this article when the author highlights that these entertainment unions are aligned their contract negotiations to the same years. This gives the unions a HUGE advantage since almost no work can occur if the contracts aren't agreed on in time. During the writers' strike, many shows just went into reruns or tried hard to continue without writers. If all these supporting unions were to strike at the same time, it would seemingly lead to a massive entertainment shutdown.
Like both Charley and Brian have already said, this could be one giant entertainment industry shutdown. The fact that both the teamsters, IA, and several other labor unions have aligned their contract expiration dates is no laughing matter. It would be interesting to see how this effects the industry beyond just film and television. It will also be interesting to see how this lines up with the proposed merger of SAG and AFTRA who are having a much smaller benefits debate as the two organizations look at merging. It sounds like the IA members are victims of a bad set of circumstances and should be prepared to work with the producers to fix what life threw at everyone. This does not seem like it was the producer's fault, but it is partially their job to help fix it. Of course I don't know much of the background, but I would hope that everyone would cooperate (even though I know this is unlikely).
The possibility of an industry wide strike is a hell of a thing to be talking about. Then again, a half a billion dollar shortfall is no small thing, nor was the market collapse in 2008. We're seeing more and more repercussions from that event, and this is just more evidence of that. As other's have noted, this seems more like both sides having to come together and dealing with what the economy has thrown at them, and hopefully they can figure out a way to negotiate things to meet on the issues at hands. The idea of an industry wide strike is hard to fathom, though, and if it comes to that, it will be crazy to see things come to a screeching halt.
Sure healthcare has gotten more expensive recently, but that's about it. Technology prices and even gas prices are down since 2008, and with all the unemployed folk around labor costs certainly haven't gone up lately other than benefits packages; indeed, many have been laid off or forced to take pay cuts. The movie industry's ticket sale and DVD sale quantities peaked circa 2002, but their revenue has continued to go up not withstanding smaller quantities. It's wavered a bit of late, but the revenue for 2011 is already $300 millon higher than it was in 2008. So why isn't there enough money in the film business to go around? The article talks about what the union wants, but didn't talk so much about why it isn't getting it.
Sometimes I feel like unions are too scary and powerful. I understand they are just trying to get rights for workers but saying things like "we are asking for money and lots of it" is just saying to much. This maybe just the media's portrayal of the unions. Asking for benefits is important but I think that asking more money is not always looking out of the worker because it can lead to unnecessary strikes and lockouts and such.
This issue is prevalent in almost every aspect of American and world culture. And it is not going away. I need to speak with a financial genus but it seems like there is less of everything and the does not make sense to me. However, everyone has to learn to live with less. (Except the 1%). There is not enough money for health care and welfare and the arts and education. Everyone has to learn to live with less. (I know I said it twice, it was for emphasis.) We as a culture just need to take a collective step back and realize that there is a day, and that that is today, that there is not enough to go around. Something is going to give, the question is what?
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