: Charley Gilleran has had a 30-year career as a rigging key grip, moving between superhero blockbusters like “Iron Man” and Oscar winners such as “No Country for Old Men.” This weekend, he plans to vote to ratify the new contract negotiated by his union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
Thursday, November 11, 2021
IATSE Workers Divided on Whether to Ratify New Contract
Variety
: Charley Gilleran has had a 30-year career as a rigging key grip, moving between superhero blockbusters like “Iron Man” and Oscar winners such as “No Country for Old Men.” This weekend, he plans to vote to ratify the new contract negotiated by his union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
: Charley Gilleran has had a 30-year career as a rigging key grip, moving between superhero blockbusters like “Iron Man” and Oscar winners such as “No Country for Old Men.” This weekend, he plans to vote to ratify the new contract negotiated by his union, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees.
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- I really didn’t expect there to be much of a divide surrounding the new union labor laws after reading all of the articles about it. However, as I read this article, I noticed it was more of a generational divide. The seasoned workers who have been in the industry for longer have undoubtedly gotten used to the 14–16-hour workdays and probably do not see the need for systemic change, as the younger workers can see the problems with longer work days and how exhausting it can be. It’s weird seeing the older generation talking about this not being the right time for a strike, but if not now then when? Especially when they the same people talk about how physically tiring and draining the work hours are, but then will still vote against new labor laws. I understand the want to renegotiate however, especially considering how fast the strike was put together and the needs for some that are still not being met.
It actually makes a ton of sense to me that the division is between generations on this decision. In the article it talks about a father and her daughter and how they are both divided on voting yes or no for the IATSE contract decision. I think this tells us a lot about how the younger generation is striving to make working conditions much better and more realistic. The older generation is used to being overworked and exploited and don’t know a world where there are normal hours or conditions because that has never been the case. I feel like the pandemic taught us a lot about the balance between work and life and I think that now that we are returning to normality, the younger generation is not going to accept what was previously the case. I am really interested to see how this decision will turn out because it seems like there is quite a bit of variety in opinions amongst the union members
I was talking to my mom about the IATSE potential strike and the conditions that they're fighting against and every time I bring it up she asks me if this is really the field I want to go into. Are these the conditions I want to subject myself to or at least watch my peers subject themselves to. The more I read articles about working conditions throughout the entertainment industry and the underwhelming negotiation offers I have a harder time justifying to her why I want to stay. I personally feel like they should keep fighting for reasonable working hours and conditions because we as people deserve to have that. I'm tired of hearing people say that at least it's better. At least conditions and expectations are better than they used to be. Better than they were 10, 20, 30 years ago. Better does not equal good. Better does not equal sustainable or healthy.
This is definitely a tough call, and I'm not surprised that a lot of people still haven't made up their minds. My feeling is that it will get authorized. Ultimately, the contract is a big improvement on what was before. That said, though, there's still a lot of problems with how film and TV works, and the voices saying 'if not now, when?' are right. Yes, everybody is going to walk away from a good compromise a little bit unhappy, but on the other hand, fair labor standards should be non-negotiable, and workers are wielding more power than they usually do right now due to the unique economic circumstances. This may be the last best chance for quite a few years to really push producers to accept labor standards more in line with other industries. That's a big deal, and it would definitely not be a smooth process, but those seem like excuses. If I were part of the union, I'm not sure how I'd be voting either.
This is a tough situation for IATSE to be in right now. There was so much momentum for this vote and for a general strike to happen when it first came up, they had over 90% vote turnout in favor of a strike. Then seeing the production companies try to squeeze every last bit of work out of the union members before the monday vote and possible strike really showed how they felt about it. They do not care about the people, it’s all about getting the work done for as little cost as possible. Then they came back to the table with such bare bones offers that it seems an insult or that they are trying to force a strike. I don’t think the union should take the offer since it does not address all the concerns, nor does it prevent some of the negotiated items from being changed elsewhere. The union should make the hard choice and stick it out for better terms. What is the point of a union if it rolls over for the first offer?
I think that there are lot of great opinions and perspectives listed in this article. I think that I am a bit of the option that not all of the issues were addressed in the negation, however it is interesting to note that the contract is up again in 2024. I hadn’t really considered that the decisions made could be good stepping stones in an effort to make more advances in the near future. I also find it interesting that it seems the older generation of members are more ready to accept the new contract negations than the younger generation. It would be terrible if people were out of work during the holidays. However, it is also pretty awful to spend your entire life with terrible working conditions. The entertainment industry is in a rough place right now. Decisions being made right now and in the near future will determine if this business continues with a large enough workforce to keep it afloat. Although if the wrong decisions are made, the workforce that does stay will probably continue to have rougher and rougher working conditions.
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