IATSE Pleads for Extended Healthcare Amid Rising Hollywood Strikes

IATSE President Matt Loeb is making a heartfelt plea to the studios, with a demand that healthcare benefits should continue for below-the-line workers likely to lose them due to not qualifying amidst the SAG-AFTRA and Writers Guild strikes. Echoing measures taken during the Covid pandemic, studios are being urged to extend their support to those in the workforce who are heading towards a healthcare benefits deficit.

SAG-AFTRA strike initiated today and the WGA strike is witnessing its 74th day, thereby pushing many crew members towards the grim reality of potentially losing their health coverage. Early on in the pandemic, the Motion Picture Industry Pension & Health Plan (MPIPHP), granted an extension of health benefits to crewmembers rendered jobless, allowing for up to 300 of the required 400 hours they needed to qualify for health coverage.

The MPIPHP trustees, made up evenly of representatives from labor and management, in 2020 amended the rules. The new setup facilitated a credit of up to 300 hours to those in the workforce who had at least 100 hours logged or in reserve. This action aimed at maintaining eligibility in MPIHP for the benefit period of July 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. The decision ensured that the workforce and their families continued to have health coverage during the initial stages of a global pandemic.

However, the situation is intensified by a new kind of epidemic ravaging Hollywood - strikes. "Make no mistake," Loeb says, “if the studios truly cared about the economic fallout of their pre-emptive work slowdown against below-the-line crewmembers, they could continue to pay crewmembers and fully fund their healthcare at any moment, as they did in 2020 during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic."

On the backdrop of a possible new film and TV contract negotiation by IATSE - relegated to a cliffhanger due to the near strike in 2021 - Loeb stressed on extending support to the striking actors and writers, with a poignant remark that “their fight today foreshadows our fight tomorrow.”

In light of this, there are clear insinuations that the MPIPHP trustees could yet again extend health benefits, given the reemergence of a dire scenario, as they did during the pandemic. However, given that the trustees are split between the striking companies and the labor, a helping hand of this nature does not seem likely.

As much as I salute the straight facts, let's add some flavor in the mix, shall we? The studios have indeed pulled up their overpriced socks during the Covid pandemic, stepping in to assuage some concerns posed by a suddenly jobless demographic. A selfless act, or a PR masterstroke? You be the judge.

Sure, they planted their flag promptly and ensured health coverage, but to parrot Loeb, if they cared enough, wouldn't they have done more? The pandemic may have blindsided us all, but a strike? That's more of a perpetually silent whisper that crescendos into a roar, one that the studios undoubtedly saw or heard coming.

While the industry at large is grappling with the veritable 'domino effect' of strikes, it's illuminating to note that it plunges deeper than just a numbers game. At its core, it's about the workforce -- the quiet heroes who are instrumental in creating the stories we hinge our expectations upon.

Remember, the studios aren't just dealing with an outbreak this time but with an uprising, and the 'cure' goes beyond countering a viral menace. It requires counting on the ubiquity of justice, on recognizing the value of every hand that contributes to the cherished tales we consume. The battle line drawn this time around is one of shared financial burdens and shared financial successes.

In essence, Hollywood's symbiotic dynamic has been shoved into the limelight with actors, writers, and crew alike, all demanding their fair slice of the industry pie. As strikes threaten to throw our beloved entertainment industry into turmoil, we wait with bated breath to see if the studios will decide to pick up the tab, or leave the checks unpaid.