Negotiating Committee statements: #3 of 3

Is this a perfect contract? No … in fact, hell no.

Is it a bad contract? Not really.

When we polled them after the May 30 meeting, the economic package was the members’ most important demand. And after quite a bit of struggling, we got exactly what the IATSE Hollywood live-action unions got for wage increases and health and pension adjustments.

Under the previous contract, the producers paid $5.00 per hour into the health plan … under the proposed contract they’ll pay $6.00 per hour — a twenty percent increase. There will be health insurance premiums for members with dependents, but they’re a small fraction of what those working non-union are paying (assuming they have a job with health benefits, period.)

There’s no guarantee that going back to the table will get us a better deal. In fact, to guarantee that we won’t end up with either the same or a worse deal, we’ll likely have to take a strike vote. And no one wants to strike over this contract.

Yes, this is not a perfect contract. But it’s more than good enough for me to recommend a yes vote, as does the Negotiating Committee and the Executive Board.

— Jeff Massie