Teamsters Reach Tentative Deal With AMPTP On New Casting Agreement

The Teamsters have a tentative deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on a new casting agreement.

Locals 399 and 817 made the announcement Friday, just ahead of the current contract’s expiration on September 30. The agreement will now go before all Los Angeles and New York casting directors, associate casting directors and casting assistants next week for ratification.

“The member-led negotiating committee fought until the bitter end for a tentative agreement that is being unanimously recommended for ratification,” the union said in a statement.

Until the bitter end is right. As of two days ago, the deal was still in limbo. The Teamsters had scheduled a few days of additional bargaining for the beginning of the week, after failing to reach an agreement with the AMPTP in the originally allotted time in August.

But, on Wednesday, the union said the two parties still remained “far apart on fair compensation across all classifications.” Negotiations continued throughout the week.

Now, with a tentative deal in place, the Teamsters plan to hold an information meeting on Monday, prior to the start of the ratification vote.

“Teamsters want to commend our Local 399 & 817 Casting Negotiating Committee. Over the past several months the committee has dedicated countless hours and long nights to fight on behalf of the entire Casting group,” Friday’s statement continued. “The tentative agreement that was able to be achieved is in large part attributed to the hard work, passion, and fight from the committee. We also greatly appreciate the outpouring of support from all of Hollywood Labor throughout our fight and the commitment from many to #StandWithCasting.”

The primary concerns for the union during this negotiation cycle were wage increases and protections, including establishing minimum rates for casting directors.

It was also the first round of bargaining since casting assistants voted to join the union, and codifying annual wage increases for that group was among the Teamsters’ priorities as well.

This news of the Teamsters deal comes after the Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) spent another week bargaining with the AMPTP from September 16 to 20. However, the union said in an update on Friday that there were “significant gaps” between the parties, prompting the negotiating committee to extend the current contract again — this time until Nov. 1 — to allow for talks to continue. Compensation, as well as artificial intelligence, are the biggest sticking points on that front.