The possibility of another strike in Hollywood has reared its head at CES in Las Vegas.
Speaking at the annual Labor Innovation and Technology Summit, IATSE president Matthew Loeb warned members of his union could walk out if contract negotiations with the AMPTP do not go well when the two sides meet in early March.
IATSE represents over 168,000 technicians, artisans, and craftspersons in motion picture and television production, broadcast and trade shows in the United States and Canada.
“Nothing’s off the table, and we’re not going to give up our strength and our ability because they sapped us,” Loeb told the audience. “Everybody’s bank account got sapped because they were unreasonable for months and months. My folks aren’t going to just settle.”
Loeb added: “Folks are fed up. And I don’t know what to call it, if it’s a post-Covid wake of dissatisfaction, but people are ready to fight and the studios would be ill-advised to think that they’ve weakened us to the point that we can’t.”
Many IATSE members hit the picket lines last year in support of both the actors’ and writers’ strikes which shut down production on studio films and TV series for months.
