Film and TV industry could be facing another major strike in 2024

Just when the land of TV and movies was starting to get back to normal after dual strikes affecting hundreds of productions, the industry could be facing another strike.

A collection of unions, including the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Teamsters Local 399 Hollywood, Laborers International Union of North America Local 724, Operative Plasterers’ & Cement Masons’ International Association Local 755, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 40 and United Association Plumbers 78, are in the early stages of negotiating a new contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

AMPTP was the same powerful trade group representing the interests of major TV and film studios that sparred with the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA in 2023. 

Both unions eventually went on strike, shuttering productions and forcing studios to rethink release schedules and programming strategies for over half a year. Most TV schedules have returned to normal, though viewers may notice some gaps between new episodes as production catches up with demand.

All of the current contracts between these unions and AMPTP expire July 31, 2024. This contract covers both the basic agreement which covers Hollywood-based members, and the area standards agreement, which covers over two dozen member groups outside of Los Angeles.

While the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes focused heavily on residuals, especially for streaming productions, and the use of AI to potentially duplicate writers’ and actors’ work or likeness, the trade unions are likely to focus more on base pay. 

These wages are likely to play a big role in negotiations as the job market tightens and cost-of-living going up. Many of the workers represented by these unions were out of work during the WGA-SAG-AFTRA strike as well.

Most of the workers in these unions work behind-the-scenes and include everything from production and scenic design, craftspersons and tradespeople and technicians who work on film and TV sets.

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Should a strike be called, the unions’ membership would need to approve it. This would typically only happen after several rounds of initial negotiations.