The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) has ratified a first-of-its-kind contract with the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) covering Production Department Workers on TV commercials.
The agreement brings Production Assistants, Assistant Production Supervisors, Production Supervisors, Line Producers, and Bidding Producers under a national framework across hundreds of U.S. commercial employers—historic coverage for a sector that’s long operated without it.
The deal delivers meaningful gains for members of the newly chartered, national Production Workers Guild (PWG), IATSE Local 111. It strengthens day-to-day workplace protections, expands access to healthcare, and secures parity with fellow crew who work under the long-standing Commercial Production Agreement (CPA). Crucially, it also sets fair baselines in markets where production staff have often worked at or below scale, while preserving the right to negotiate higher wages or so-called “street rates.”
On the protections front, the contract ends the practice of labeling production roles “exempt” to sidestep basic safeguards—everyone is now covered by overtime and holiday rules. Hourly employees gain stronger overtime and turnaround rights, codifying rest and compensation standards that match the realities of commercial shoots. Health coverage improves via the PHBP: the qualification threshold drops from 100 to 80 days, and for the first time, members working on union signatory jobs outside the AICP can qualify for a full year of coverage.
Financial safety gets a long-overdue upgrade. Employers can no longer require personal bank accounts for petty cash, ACH, or wire transfers, and members won’t be held liable for petty cash discrepancies beyond their control.
The agreement also secures loan-out protections to ensure that workers using loan-out companies are paid accordingly, guarantees daily cell phone reimbursement, and provides kit rentals for qualifying crafts. Automatic dues check-off streamlines union support, while multi-market language confirms members can continue working across multiple home bases without penalty. Travel and lodging standards are elevated, too: producers can’t force room sharing or turn a member’s hotel room into a production office.
Parity with the CPA is a signature feature. PWG members now share the same core protections as other commercial crew—safety provisions, meal penalties, travel-day wages and rules, cancellation-of-call protections, low-budget provisions, and penalties for non-bona fide production companies (including higher scale wages and increased pension/annuity contributions).
Altogether, the Local 111 agreement is expected to cover up to 5,000 production department workers employed by AICP signatories. While IATSE has long represented camera, lighting, hair, and makeup, as well as other crafts, on commercials, production department roles were historically outside that umbrella.
“This ratified agreement is the culmination of four years of activism and organizing born out of the grassroots ‘Stand With Production’ movement,” said IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb. “It is a testament to the solidarity, resolve, and resourcefulness of production department workers. This first agreement sets a foundation that we will look to build upon for the future, with talks for a successor agreement just three years away.”
The road here runs through a sustained organizing push. In Fall 2021, Stand With Production published proposed guidelines for commercial production teams that drew thousands of signatures. The group formally announced its IATSE organizing in July 2022, leading to an IATSE–AICP Neutrality Agreement and Procedures for Voluntary Recognition that October. Majority support for unionization was confirmed the following year.
It’s another mile marker in the broader movement of entertainment workers securing rights and protections in a turbulent industry cycle—and a particularly timely win for the commercial market, where production teams frequently hop between agencies, brands, and coasts.
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