As Massachusetts movie and TV show business booms, production union prepares for strike

A film production union is on the brink of going on strike, potentially bringing the Massachusetts’ mushrooming movie and TV show production industry to a halt.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) is moving ahead with a nationwide strike authorization vote as they’re in a contract battle with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

In Boston’s Downtown Crossing on Wednesday, a Herald photographer spotted the word “strike” written in fake snow on a film set’s cab.

“Behind-the-scenes film workers across the country gave concessions to major producers at the dawn of the streaming era, but now that the industry is established we are being taken advantage of,” Wayne Simpson, president of IATSE Local 481 New England Studio Mechanics, wrote to the Herald.

“There are other long-standing issues of meal breaks and rest periods that have deteriorated over the years, and the producers in the AMPTP are unwilling to acknowledge that working conditions on film productions are hazardous to physical and mental health,” Simpson added.

Dozens of movies and TV shows have been filmed in the Bay State in recent years. The film production incentive program has led to a booming film industry in Massachusetts, and the state’s budget this year made that incentive program permanent.

Since the film incentive program was established in 2006, nearly 300 films and TV series have been produced in the state, according to the Massachusetts Production Coalition. Filming has taken place in more than 200 cities and towns, and productions have spent more than $2.8 billion here.

The incentive program has helped create thousands of jobs. There are now more than 50 high-tech post-production and visual effects companies across Massachusetts, employing more than 550 highly-skilled workers, the coalition said.

IATSE represents more than 100,000 technicians and craftspeople working behind-the-scenes in the entertainment industry in the U.S. and Canada.

AMPTP said this week that it does not intend to make a counteroffer to IATSE’s most recent proposal.

“It is incomprehensible that the AMPTP, an ensemble that includes media mega-corporations collectively worth trillions of dollars, claims it cannot provide behind-the-scenes crews with basic human necessities like adequate sleep, meal breaks, and living wages,” IATSE said in a statement.

An AMPTP spokesperson said they put forth a “comprehensive proposal that meaningfully addresses” IATSE’s key bargaining issues.

“The package includes substantial improvements in rest periods, increases in wages and benefits, increases in minimum rates for specific job categories and increases in minimum rates for New Media Productions,” the AMPTP spokesperson said. “This package recognizes the crucial role IATSE crew members play as we continue to move our industry forward and provide employment for thousands of employees who work on productions.”

The spokesperson added, “In choosing to leave the bargaining table to seek a strike authorization vote, the IATSE leadership walked away from a generous comprehensive package.”