MLK Day Finally Arrives As Paid Day Off For Most Hollywood Workers
deadline.comOn Monday, most workers in Hollywood will celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday for the very first time.MLK Day, observed on the third Monday in January, has been a national holiday since 1986, but it hasn’t been a paid day off for many in the industry until now.
It’s still not provided for in most of the unions’ major collective bargaining agreements.IATSE, representing some 60,000 behind-the-scenes workers, won MLK Day as a paid holiday in its new film and TV contract, which was ratified in November.
IATSE president Matt Loeb said, “The IATSE has led other entertainment industry unions and guilds by adding Martin Luther King, Jr.
Day as a holiday in its contract – an accomplishment that we hope will be recognized by the entire industry.”SAG-AFTRA doesn’t have it in its basic film and TV contract, but it’s recognized as a paid holiday in its Netflix agreement, dubbing agreement, Interactive Media Agreement (video games/AR/VR) and most broadcast news contracts.The WGA’s film and TV contract, which covers almost all of the work performed by WGA West members, doesn’t address paid holidays because the pay is for a script, or weekly or for an episode.And now that IATSE has won MLK Day as a paid holiday, Hollywood’s Teamsters Local 399, which will resume contract talks next week with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers, will receive it as well.
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