IATSE Chief Matt Loeb Tells Members A Deal Or A Strike Is Days “Not Weeks” Away; Talks To Resume Saturday

IATSE and the AMPTP have concluded their fourth day of do-or-die bargaining and will resume negotiations for a new film and TV contract on Saturday. But if a deal is to be reached, and a strike averted, it will have to be made soon. “It’s a matter of days, not weeks,” IATSE president Matthew Loeb said tonight. Last weekend, the union’s members voted resoundingly (over 98%) in favor of granting him strike authorization if a deal can’t be reached.

“After four days of bargaining, talks concluded on Friday without an agreement being reached. Negotiations resume Saturday,” the union said in a statement Friday. “While we remain committed to the bargaining process, there will come a point where words must be replaced by action.”

Earlier today, Thom Davis, business manager of Grips Local 80 and IATSE’s 2nd vice president, said that “some progress” has been made during the talks, but that “we are still far apart on some of the key issues.”

IATSE Says Contract Talks With AMPTP Are “Fluid,” Urges Members To “Disregard” Press Accounts

“Your Union is committed to continue to negotiate to get the contract that our members deserve, but we cannot, and will not allow the employers to just drag out the process without meaningful and real movement on their part,” Davis told his members. “At some point a decision will be made on whether the negotiations are moving well enough to continue the talks, or whether it is time to take action. Are we at that point yet? NO we are not. Will the employers be allowed to string us along? NO.”