Basic handicraft associations in Hollywood announce tentative agreement

On Friday night, a union of Hollywood craft unions announced that they had reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract.

The coalition of five bargaining groups represents approximately 7,500 electricians, drivers, plumbers, laborers, animal trainers and others. The three-year agreement still has to be approved by a vote of the members.

No details of the contract were disclosed. Unions are expected to disclose the terms of the contract to members ahead of the vote.

Negotiations with the Union of Film and Television Producers began in December, shortly after the 60,000 members of the International Union of Theater Workers ratified their new contracts. The Basic Hollywood Crafts Union – Local Teamsters 399IBEW Local 40, Studio Plumbers Local 78, Laborers Local 724 and Studio Plasterers Local 755 – negotiate their own arrangements with IATSE.

The Basic Craft negotiations yielded no results in the IATSE negotiations. The latter has seen a breakdown in negotiations, a vote to authorize a nationwide strike, national media attention and a vigorous campaign to reject the deal. The Basic Craft Talks saw a single three-paragraph press release.

According to the statement, the bargaining committee unanimously proposed a “yes” vote. Lindsay Dougherty, Teamsters Local 399’s recording secretary, led the negotiations for the Basic Crafts unions, while AMPTP President Carol Lombardini led the negotiations for the studios.

AMPTP is scheduled to resume negotiations with the Animation Guild, IATSE Local 839, on February 14. Those talks were already underway on November 29, but have been paused since the beginning of the month. 12. Animators are looking to raise wages for animators, who earn significantly less than their live-action counterparts, among other concessions.