In a major development, freelance workers in production departments for TV commercials across the United States have achieved a significant victory in their efforts to unionize. After a neutral third party verified that a majority of these workers signed union cards indicating their desire to join, they are set to gain voluntary recognition of their union by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE).
The group of organizing workers consists of around 5,000 Production Assistants (PA’s), Line Producers, Production Supervisors, Assistant Production Supervisors, and Bidding Producers who play crucial roles in the creation of TV commercials viewed by millions each year.
Their work falls under the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP). The primary goals of this unionization drive are to address issues such as low pay, unsustainable working hours, lack of adequate rest, absence of employer-funded healthcare and retirement benefits, ineligibility for overtime pay, and limited access to safety and training, among others.
This movement, known as “Stand With Production,” aims to become the largest contingent of production department workers and entry-level Production Assistants within IATSE. Unlike certain “crew” positions like Production Designers, Camera Operators, Hair and Makeup Artists, Script Supervisors, Grips, Lighting, Props, and Paint, which have historically been represented by IATSE on TV commercial sets, workers in the production department have not had such representation. In response, IATSE has announced its intention to charter a new national Local Union specifically for these workers.
The Stand With Production initiative is a grassroots movement of commercial production workers seeking to improve working conditions, especially in light of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the Fall of 2021, the group garnered thousands of petition signatures for proposed guidelines for production teams at various commercial production companies. In July 2022, they publicly announced their partnership with IATSE, leading to an IATSE-AICP Neutrality Agreement and Procedures for Voluntary Recognition in October 2022.
Under the terms of the neutrality agreement, now that the freelance TV commercial production workers’ union has been certified to have majority support, the AICP has agreed to immediately and voluntarily recognize the union and commence negotiations with the workers as a cohesive group. These freelance TV commercial production department workers are leveraging their momentum, and constructive discussions about creating a safer and more sustainable Commercial Production Industry through collective bargaining are already underway.
REELated:
The newly-organized freelance TV commercial production department workers will enter negotiations with the full backing of IATSE and its traditionally represented crafts. IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb has expressed solidarity, noting that the issues faced by commercial production workers are ones the union has fought to address through collective bargaining for many years.
With a membership of 168,000 individuals working across various sectors of the entertainment industry, including many who work on commercials directly alongside these workers, the fight for better working conditions becomes a shared cause for the entire union.
In response to this significant victory for commercial production workers and the union, President Loeb remarked, “From the beginning, the Stand With Production movement has been about finding a way to open a dialogue with the powers that be and codify those solutions into written agreements. That will now become a reality for thousands of workers.” The successful unionization effort represents a substantial step forward in improving the rights and working conditions of freelance TV commercial production workers across the United States.
