In their latest three-year tentative agreement with employers, the Teamsters Local 399 and Hollywood Basic Crafts won annual three percent wage increases, penalties for an invaded weekend turnaround and a budget-based New Media sideletter without lower “movie of the week” rates.
Local 399 revealed these and other deal terms from the Basic Crafts’ latest tentative agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) in a one-sheet summary shared with members on Monday. The tentative agreement, which if ratified would apply to nearly 7,500 film and television workers belonging to Local 399, IBEW Local 40, LiUNA! Local 724, OPCMIA Local 755 and UA Local 78, was reached on Friday and will soon go to members of these groups for a ratification vote.
Related Stories
In their one-sheet and a subsequent press release, Local 399 specifically touts that, for the first time, the deal includes a budget-based New Media sideletter, which eliminates all references to “movie of the week” (MOW) rates that are lower than those for “episodic” and “full feature” films. Previously, Local 399 and the Basic Crafts were negotiating one-off project deals for New Media — this sideletter will now cover all traditional scripted dramatic programs for SVOD platforms.
In a statement, Local 399’s recording secretary and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters’ Western vice president-elect Lindsay Dougherty said, “We have been holding the line against agreeing to low wages on New Media productions in our ‘Black Book’ Agreement for almost a decade. I am grateful for this step in the right direction towards making our members whole by paying fair wages for equal work on productions we know can afford it.” Doughtery led the negotiations for the Basic Crafts, which began in early December.
In addition to the three percent annual wage increase and the New Media sideletter, the deal includes financial “penalties” that were unspecified for weekend turnarounds shorter than 54 hours; triple-time overtime compensation following 16 elapsed hours; permit days counting towards roster inclusion on New Media projects; a $3 cell phone allowance each day; the addition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a holiday; and 10 additional benefit hours for on-call employees per week, among other points. Those covered under Local 399’s “Black Book” Agreement negotiated within the Basic Crafts talks also will, if the deal is ratified, receive $10 more per day in meal money, for a $50 meal total (other crafts received additional meal penalties).
No other details were available at this time, but Local 399 says that members will receive a memorandum of agreement and summary of key changes, which will provide further details, later this week. The Hollywood Basic Crafts bargaining committee is unanimously recommending that members ratify the deal.
The Teamsters Local 399 will host an informational meeting for members about the new agreement on Sunday, Feb. 6, and its membership will vote electronically between Sunday, Feb. 6 and Wednesday, Feb. 9. Whether the deal is ratified or not will be settled by a simple majority.
