IATSE - 10 Days To Go

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Paul F

Veteran
The IATSE contract expires in 10 days. IATSE "has repeatedly stated it does not intend to grant an extension." (Variety). I suppose that means an immediate vote to strike on July 1st if the talks don't provide an agreement over the next 4 scheduled days of meetings.

Talks have ended, but will restart June 24 and the plan is to conclude them on the 27th. Best of luck.
 
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I don't generally play speculation games, but if the IA strikes, I'll eat my hat. I'll start looking for the tastiest one now. @dougjensen, any pointers from when we were discussing the look of Curb? ;)
 
Charles, indeed; IATSE has a perfect record of never striking. That's why I posted the quote and made a point about an immediate vote to strike. I found a lot of humor in their 'threat'. Yeah, sure, no extensions. They are trying some of Fran Drescher's posturing.

Now, what are the prospects that they will come to an agreement before the end of the month? I say it's 3:1 they won't do it. I got $100 that says they have no agreement by June 30th, 11:59pm.
 
Hmm, You have inside information. You likely know how often they have closed on time in the past and the mood of the whole thing. But there's still $100 sitting there for anyone that wants a piece of it.

I suppose between last year's lengthy strikes and the drastic loss of work, people are more in a mood to settle.

Oh, and I'm not a gambler either. But since I'm retired, I'm having a bit of fun.
 
CharlesPapert said:
I don't generally play speculation games, but if the IA strikes, I'll eat my hat. I'll start looking for the tastiest one now. @dougjensen, any pointers from when we were discussing the look of Curb? ;)
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I chose a lightly breaded Panama hat with salsa on it. Highly recommended if it turns out you need to eat your hat.
But stay away from MAGA ball caps as they will surely give you diarrhea.
 
I feel like IATSE membership is too bruised and battered from the last work stoppage to stomach a strike and so they're probably gonna eat **** in the negotiations
 
Paul F said:
Hmm, You have inside information. You likely know how often they have closed on time in the past and the mood of the whole thing. But there's still $100 sitting there for anyone that wants a piece of it.

I suppose between last year's lengthy strikes and the drastic loss of work, people are more in a mood to settle.

Oh, and I'm not a gambler either. But since I'm retired, I'm having a bit of fun.
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I’ll definitely take the $100 off your hands.
 
Is that a bet? If it is, I'll take it. Now, you wouldn't be an IATSE member or on the negotiating team? A bit unfair that. But I'll take the bet if you are serious.

To be clear, I'm talking even odds. No contract by June 30th, 11:59pm.
 
I don't promote gluttony. No bet. I often wonder what happens to the eating contest people. What an awful thing to do to yourself. Or is it?
 
Paul F said:
Is that a bet? If it is, I'll take it. Now, you wouldn't be an IATSE member or on the negotiating team? A bit unfair that. But I'll take the bet if you are serious.

To be clear, I'm talking even odds. No contract by June 30th, 11:59pm.
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Sorry Paul, I'm out. I don't know enough about it all. I was just trying to look cool for a post.

I saw this reddit thread, sharing just in case -
https://www.reddit.com/r/FilmIndustryLA/comments/1dia4zn/strike
 
Doug Jensen said:
What we've got here is a failure to communicate between Paul and Abe.

BTW, Luke was an a-hole and got everything he deserved.
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Absolutely. The Man With No Eyes was the real hero of the story, amirite? They should have shot Luke on sight for defacing those parking meters. (By the way, I just found out that the man with no eyes was played by Morgan Woodward, who played Dr. Simon Van Gelder in the Trek TOS episode Dagger of the Mind.)

Luke wasn't an a-hole. He was just a misfit. He was capable of creativity, ambition, hard work. He was a leader of men. He just never found his calling.

There are a lot of people like that. Many a war hero probably would have ended up in prison in a different life. The same goes for many athletes.

Larry David's parents were hoping he might become a postman. I think he was semi-functional.

I've read that the rate of sociopathy and psychopathy is similar in the c-suite and in prisons. It's just a matter of connecting with the right opportunities and having the right circumstances.

That's why it's so important for us to nurture, support, and guide our young men. Especially in this age when masculine tendencies are widely seen negatively.

Anyway, I think the movie connects with anyone who hates being told what to do. As Rousseau wrote, "Man is born free, but everywhere he is in chains."

There's also an element of masochistic depression to his behavior. Essentially suicide by police.

Great movie.

The beginning:

And spoiler alert - this clip is from the end:
 
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ahalpert said:
Luke wasn't an a-hole. He was just a misfit. He was capable of creativity, ambition, hard work. He was a leader of men. He just never found his calling.
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As they say, don't do the crime if you can't do the time. Sure, Luke would be a fun guy to hang out with, and he's a great movie character, but he kept doubling down on stupid and brought about his own demise.

Just to be clear, I think the movie is one of the best ever made, and is on my list of top 100 films. But Luke was an a-hole and his own worst enemy. He wasn't wrongfully convicted. He did the crime and deserved punishment. It doesn't matter if his crime of vandalism didn't gain him anything personally and didn't hurt another person, he still wasted tax payer money by destroying public property, the cost of bringing him to trial, and the cost of incarcerating him for two years, and multiple manhunts after he repeatedly escapes. Yeah, a great guy. Our socienty would be so much better with more guys like him.

The rules and expectations of the prison camp were explained to him in a calm and reasoned manner. Conditions at the camp didn't seem too bad. But He chose to buck the system for no other reason than he doesn't like being told what to do. Too bad. You broke the rules, now you have to suffer the consequences and be told what to do more than ever before. And you can either learn your lesson and get back in line, or continue acting as a child would act and facing escalating punishment until you get what you really wanted - suicide by cop.

Two years might seem harsh for decapitating a few parking meters, but I'll bet that's not the whole story. There's no way a Florida judge is going to throw the book at a clean-cut white war hero for such a simple crime unless he: 1) Had a prior arrests. 2) Showed no remorse. 3) Acted like an ass in court. I think it was probably all three. But that's just my guess. The movie doesn't cover it (nor should it) but maybe the book does. I haven't read it.

Don't confuse Luke with people like Andy Dufresne, Spartacus, Tom Robinson, or Richard Kimble, who had every right to buck the system. Luke was just a charming loser who got what he deserved. There's nothing worse than someone who thinks rules don't apply to them.
 
This seems to be the general sentiment of IATSE members on Reddit - "I've been in IATSE for 25+ years, and there's no way I'd vote for a strike. I can't even imagine what we could be striking for that would compensate for the many months of lost wages."

Indeed, higher wages might push more work out of Los Angeles. The 14% wages and benefits SAG-AFTRA got didn't help.
 
Paul F said:
This seems to be the general sentiment of IATSE members on Reddit - "I've been in IATSE for 25+ years, and there's no way I'd vote for a strike. I can't even imagine what we could be striking for that would compensate for the many months of lost wages."

Indeed, higher wages might push more work out of Los Angeles. The 14% wages and benefits SAG-AFTRA got didn't help.
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Do you have evidence of off-shoring due to the SAG raise? My understanding is production is depressed across the board, not that it's shifted to non-union.
 
ahalpert said:
Do you have evidence of off-shoring due to the SAG raise? My understanding is production is depressed across the board, not that it's shifted to non-union.
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That's right. Due to the streamer's financial losses, there is a significant decline in production, which starting before the strike. The strike and it's resulting contract had nothing to do with that. But, if a company is losing money and needs to cut production expenses and someone says "It's going to cost you 14% more to use us", well, that's 14% they can't afford. So what do they do?

No, I haven't read anything about the consequences of the new contract. But each bite into the profit/loss statement has the same effect: a need to find ways to reduce costs or improve revenue. Revenue is not improving, so reduce the number of productions and lower the cost of production by not hiring stars, doing less lavish productions, sending more work overseas.

Any increases in cost of production by a new IATSE agreement won't help the situation. The high-flying days of endless money to ramp up streaming company's shot at making this a business is over. Like any bubble, when it bursts, it is very painful.

I went through the same thing in the dot-com bubble. Money was flowing like crazy. Huge bonuses, lavish parties, people jumping ship to go to start-ups hoping to get rich. And then the bubble burst and it burst quickly. I'd say half the people I knew, who had careers in technology all their lives, had to find a new way to make a living. Easily 40% of the jobs went offshore. Just like this, people lost houses, moved to other states, took jobs at Home Depot to make ends meet. It was ugly.
 
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