IATSE President Matt Loeb Calls On Studios To Extend Health Benefits To Crews Who Might Lose Them During SAG-AFTRA & WGA Strikes
deadline.comIATSE President Matt Loeb is calling on the studios to provide health care benefits to below-the line workers who might lose them if they fall short of qualifying during the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild strikes, as the companies did during the Covid pandemic.
The SAG-AFTRA strike started today, and the WGA strike is in its 74th day – long enough for many crewmembers to face the prospect of losing their health coverage in the days to come.
In the early days of the pandemic, the Motion Picture Industry Pension & Health Plan (MPIPHP), which covers below-the line workers, granted an extension of health benefits to out-of-work crewmembers by granting them up to 300 of the 400 hours they needed to qualify for health coverage.
Back then, MPIPHP amended its qualifying rules for active participants who had at least 100 hours worked or banked. “If you are in this group and have met the minimum number of hours, you will receive a credit of up to 300 hours to ensure eligibility continues in MPIHP for the benefit period of July 1, 2020, to December 31, 2020,” wrote the trustees – half of whom are from labor and half from management.
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