The battle between the Teamsters and the Association of Independent Commercial Producers is heating up, and it could get explosive. With the Writers Guild strike in its second month and the Directors Guild’s talks with the studios coming down to the wire, the Teamsters are demanding that the AICP return to the bargaining table ASAP to avert a strike next month. They want wage increases, greater overtime compensation, and more. To kick things into high gear, the Teamsters have instituted a self-described “week of action.”
According to Local 399 VP and Chief Negotiator in commercials, Joshua Staheli, “anything less than a raise for our members on July 1st of this year is a pay cut. We need the AICP to get serious about getting a deal done before June 30th.” The Lindsay Dougherty-led Local 399, which represents about 500 members annually that work on commercials, wants to see the AICP agree to further talks in the next week or so. Currently, the two sides aren’t scheduled to meet until June 19, less than two weeks before the current contract expires.
While the AICP says they have not put the brakes on an agreement, the fact is if there is not a deal in place by the end of this month, the Teamsters could hit the picket lines. “They’re not wanting to give our members the fair wages they deserve,” says Dougherty. “But we are ready to take a Commercial Break. If we are provoked, we will strike.”
There are actually two separate contracts at play simultaneously between the Teamsters and the 51-year-old AICP. One agreement covers drivers, wranglers, animal handlers/trainers, and hyphenated drivers, and the other covers location scout/managers in commercials. Money is proving to be the sticking point, with inflation on the rise. Laurel Hitchin, a Local 399 driver on the bargaining committee for talks with the AICP, asserts that “these companies have been making gargantuan profits the last few years, and they can’t do that without workers like us showing up job after job and doing the work. All we are asking is to be paid a fair wage appropriate for the hard hours we work and the high cost of living in Los Angeles.”
The Hollywood Teamsters’ current contract with the studios expires next year.
