IATSE Ratifies AMPTP Contract

  The 15 local chapters of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees ratified the new contract with the studios and networks today. The new deal will go into effect Aug. 1, 2009, and run for three years. According to a post on SAGWatch.net, however, the support for the deals was not overwhelming.

Local 700, the Motion Picture Editors Guild, announced 75 percent of its members voted for ratification. (It's not uncommon for these types of contracts to receive 90 percent approval.) The praise among cinematographers (Local 600) was even less effusive: 58 percent to 42 percent.

However, Matthew D. Loeb, president of IATSE, stated in a news release that he was happy with the results: “We have delivered a strong contract in a very chaotic economic climate. We feel we have given our members the best protection we can at a time when the bottom is falling out of a lot of traditional business models.We look forward to three years of labor stability and a commitment to keeping our members working.”

Jesse Hiestand, spokesman for the AMPTP, sent this response: "The ratification vote by IATSE members is good news for our entire industry. This is the fifth major entertainment labor agreement ratified over the last year, and it will help bring stability to our business at a time of enormous economic uncertainty. We look forward to working with IATSE members--and with everyone else in our industry--to emerge from today's significant challenges with a strong and growing business."

What are the chances SAG ratifies its contract by Aug. 1? And in what year?

--Andrew Salomon