IATSE Sets Schedule Of Simultaneous Talks Between Multiple Locals & Studios As Bargaining Resumes; Cinematographers & Art Directors’ Guild At Table Today

deadline.com:

Back at the bargaining table with the studios this week after several days of caucusing, IATSE today laid out their plans for the next phase of talks as the contract expiration date inched closer and closer for a tense Tinseltown. “Following a caucus week, negotiations between the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) resumed Monday, with talks entering a new phase where each of IATSE’s 13 West Coast Studio Locals (WCSL) individually negotiate their Locals’ craft specific issues with the studios,” the Matt Loeb-led union said today in their first official missive since the talks started up. “This phase of the process is expected to last from March 18 to April 26.” The current IATSE contracts expire on July 31.

With still strike exhausted executives and cautiously optimistic union brass aware of the very real possibility of another summer of labor actions if these talks blow up, the initial negotiations have been low-key but fairly productive, we hear.

After that first week of talks that kicked off on March 4 with IATSE, the Hollywood Teamsters and other crafts guild discussing health and pension benefits, the now formalized strategy is that ” two locals will negotiate simultaneously at any given time.” The point is to make sure all 13 locals have time at the table with the AMPTP on their specific needs. “On Monday March 18th, the International Cinematographer’s Guild (IATSE Local 600) and the Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800) each began their individual negotiations with the studios,” IATSE added Tuesday. “The Motion Picture Editors Guild (IATSE Local 700) and IATSE Local 729 are expected to begin their negotiations with