Teamsters Extend Talks With AMPTP In Next Week; Two Sides Still “Far Apart” As Contract Expiration Nears

Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien may be wanting to make friends with Donald Trump, but Local 399 want to secure a new deal for their entertainment industry members, and are extending talks with the studios into next week. The Hollywood Teamsters and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will back at the table next week in hopes of crafting a deal before the Teamsters’ current contract expires on July 31.

Alleging the AMPTP are finally taking negotations “seriously” and engaging “in meaningful discussions” after five weeks of bargaining, the Lindsay Dougherty-led local tonight said it will meet with the studios on July 22 and 23 to come to a new three-year tentative agreement

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“The Hollywood Basic Crafts have concluded discussions with the AMPTP for the 5th week of negotiations,” Local 399 announced in an update sent out to members late Friday after the day’s talks with the Carol Lombardini-led AMPTP ended late. “Today was originally set to be our last scheduled date for negotiations; however, there is still much work to be done to reach a tentative agreement as we remain far apart on our core bargaining priorities.”

“At this time, we will be back at the table with the AMPTP on Monday and Tuesday of next week,” the missive added “With our agreements set to expire on July 31st, we will continue to schedule as many days necessary to make a deal that protects our members’ work, compensates them fairly and respects their skill and contributions to this industry. We will, however, not be extending our agreements past expiration.

“After 5 weeks of negotiations, this was the first week in which we saw the employers take this process seriously and engage in meaningful discussions. We look forward to continuing to educate the Companies on the important work our members do for their productions, and we will see them back at the table next week.”

Fact is, with the health and pension fund fully negotiated, this is almost all about wage increases, we hear. A point of contention that doesn’t leave a lot of wiggle room for either side with their members and so-called stakeholders.

Teamsters Local 399’s big picture decision to come back to bargaining next week comes as IATSE members ratified their own deals with studios with strong majorities yesterday. In a big win for union boss Matt Loeb, the final vote tally saw the West Coast locals-based Basic Agreement receive an 85.9% thumbs up, and the nationwide locals oriented Area Standards Agreement approved by 87.2% of voting members. The new three-year contracts will kick in starting August 1. The new agreements  cover about 50,000 film and TV workers within IATSE’s 13 West Coast studio locals as well as another 20,000 in the 23 locals across the country.

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