EXPLAINER: What's behind the looming Hollywood strike?

A poster advocating union solidarity hangs from the office building housing The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 80, Monday, Oct. 4, 2021, in Burbank, Calif. The IATSE overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike for the first time in its 128-year history. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)


By LINDSEY BAHR

A major Hollywood strike could be on the horizon for some 60,000 behind-the-scenes workers in the entertainment industry. Over the weekend, members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IASTE) overwhelmingly voted in favor of authorizing a nationwide strike for the first time in its history.

Here we look at who is involved, what they’re asking for and what’s at stake.

WHAT IS THE IATSE?

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (or IATSE for short, pronounced eye-AHT’-see) is a 128-year-old union representing over 150,000 artists, craftspeople and technicians in the entertainment industry in the United States and Canada. Comprised of cinematographers, costumers, set designers, script supervisors, hair and makeup artists, animators, stagehands and many, many more, the IATSE represents essentially everyone who works in any form of entertainment (including movies, television, theater, concerts, trade shows and broadcasting) who isn’t an actor, director, producer or screenwriter.

FULL story: https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-business-strikes-hollywood-arts-and-entertainment-b22eb148f04b4403dd0c480d6a2a1b62