Strike (Photo : Pixabay)
The crew that works diligently behind the scenes in Hollywood has not yet come to a resolution about the industry's major and television production companies regarding overpay and overworking. Still, many workers voiced their concerns that the conditions they are currently facing have gotten much worse with the rise of streaming platforms and the pandemic.
The NBC News was able to speak with three members of the International Association of Theatrical Stage Employees as to why they're revving for a strike.
Gina Scarnati, a specialty costume manufacturer who worked in the industry for over a decade, has said that by not addressing this now, she won't be able to work in the industry until she's 62. She added that they shouldn't be begging for mere lunch breaks in 2021.
Gina isn't 100 percent ready to go on a strike. Still, for the course to correct itself, it should happen as she's now regretting even being in the industry itself.
Since Monday, out of the 60,000 workers from the union, there are already more than 98 percent who voted to take action and authorize a strike just if agreements won't be met with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, or AMPTP.
The AMPTP represents the production companies within the industry. If the strike pushes through, it will be the first nationwide strike from the union from its 128-years of existence. The union already has overwhelming support from members of Congress, Hollywood actors, directors, and other Hollywood unions.
Among the union members participating in the said strike are sound people, camera operators, makeup artists, and costume makers.
The grievances they voice out are plenty. These include but aren't limited to unlivable wages, severe working hours, pension restrictions, missing meal breaks, lack of downtime between shifts, and more.
The workers are also immediately calling out for the end of labor discounts offered to "new media" productions for so long.
The negotiations between AMPTP and the IATSE have been moving at a snail's pace before the strike has been authorized. Now, however, since all that has happened, talks are now currently underway.
Scarnati worked for franchises such as Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America, and Hunger Games says that she recently worked for 21 straight days and the shortest of which was a 12-hour long shift. Most of the days were an average of 14 hours and the longest would be 19 hours.
The AMPTP has not commented to any outlet thus far at the time of this writing.
