Teamsters Set Additional Bargaining Days With AMPTP To Finalize Casting Agreement

The Teamsters Locals 399 and 817 will resume negotiations with the studios on a new casting agreement next week.

Two additional days of bargaining with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have been scheduled for September 23 and 24, the union announced Monday. The current deal expires on September 30.

Last month, the Teamsters announced that the parties had failed to reach a deal after the initial week of scheduled talks, because “the AMPTP will need more time to respect and compensate Los Angeles and New York Casting Professionals fairly.”

The primary concerns for the union during this negotiation cycle are wage increases and protections, including establishing minimum rates for casting directors. It is also the first round of bargaining since casting assistants voted to join the union, and codifying annual wage increases for that group is among the Teamsters’ priorities as well.

Casting agreement talks will follow a week of bargaining between the Animation Guild and the AMPTP on a deal, after those negotiations were also extended into September.

Talks resumed on TAG’s contract Monday morning and are expected to run through the end of the week. The negotiating committee already voted to extend the current contract, but only through September 20 to accommodate these additional days.