Hollywood’s behind-the-scenes crews vote to authorize strike

Film and television production in North America is in jeopardy of coming to a standstill after its behind-the-scenes workers overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike for the first time in its 128-year history.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees said Monday that nearly 99% of registered members who participated, or 52,706 people, voted in support of a strike over the weekend.

At issue is a contract standstill over requests for more reasonable conditions for the craftspeople, technicians and laborers working for streaming companies like Netflix, Apple and Amazon, including better pay, reasonable rest periods, safer hours and guaranteed meal breaks.

“I hope that the studios will see and understand the resolve of our members,” the alliance’s president, Matthew Loeb, said in a statement. “The ball is in their court. If they want to avoid a strike, they will return to the bargaining table and make us a reasonable offer.”

The most recent three-year contract expired in July, leading to four months of negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the group that represents studios and streamers in negotiations. But on Sept. 20, the day after streaming shows like “The Crown,” “Ted Lasso” and “The Queen’s Gambit” swept the Emmy Awards, conversations came to a halt.

Loeb has said his goal is to reach an agreement, not to “have a dispute,” but noted the vote was about the “quality of life as well as the health and safety of those who work in the film and television industry.”

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees has said it is “incomprehensible that the AMPTP, an ensemble that includes media mega-corporations collectively worth trillions of dollars, claims it cannot provide behind-the-scenes crews with basic...