Location scouts, managers ink deal- Three-year pact covers 440 Hollywood employees

Just announced! Take note in your budgets!

Jean-Luc Martin
Producer, Line-Producer, UPM
www.JeanLucM.com

Hollywood location scouts, managers and assistants have ratified a three-year deal with the showbiz companies covering about 440 employees.

Pact was approved at a meeting Thursdsay by scouts, managers and assistants repped by Local 399 of the Intl. Brotherhood of Teamsters. It goes into effect on Saturday.

New pact gives an annual 2% salary hike, with a retroactive increase to any increase above 2% that drivers repped by Local 399 are able to achieve in salary minimums next year. The drivers' contract, which covers about 4,000 West Coast employees, expires in August 2010.

"We've hitched our star to the drivers' contract," said Local 399 organizer Steve Dayan.

Location scouts and managers are among the first below-the-line crew members to be hired on many feature and TV projects.

The pact was hammered out on July 24 after three days of talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

IATSE's new three-year Hollywood Basic Agreement, which also goes into effect on Saturday, contains 3% annual wage increases. The below-the-line union began negotiations in April 2009 and was able to lock in the higher wage hike prior to the recession hitting showbiz.