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Reel News Tim Ryan |
Dispute revives
bad memoriesNBC's fall reality show "Average Joe" finishes six weeks of Big Island filming Aug. 15 and none too soon for producers who last week faced four days of picketing at some locations.
The job action by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) -- which represents film and television technicians, artists and craftspeople -- was a dispute with NBC over jurisdiction and what IATSE called "poor working conditions."
No crew member would speak on the record about the claims.
IATSE's Hawaii business agent Scott Wong claims the union has jurisdiction over workers because 33 of the 44 positions are union-related, while NBC argued it had a valid labor agreement with the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET) for technical positions. NBC was "in discussion" with IATSE for stagecraft positions when the picketing began.
Wong said he was told by IATSE attorneys that NABET's jurisdiction does not include Hawaii and Alaska.
According to sources on both sides and Wong himself, the picketing led to filming disruptions such as signs in camera view, noisy walkie-talkies and wrong electrical connections that caused some set lights to malfunction.
Though a tentative agreement was reached Friday, producers say they won't bring another show here. It would be disastrous if the network, which brought "ER" here for two years, feels the same way.
Some Hawaii production workers worry -- and rightly so -- that the dispute will rekindle memories in Hollywood of earlier labor problems.
"How many years has Hawaii been telling Hollywood the union problems are over?" a Big Island production worker said. "You can't say this will not set us back."
Wong's vision is to have most, if not all, productions in Hawaii fall under IATSE jurisdiction. "I'm for the state's film industry, but I will not have local labor suffer for it," he said.
Smaller productions like this one generally ask for more union concessions, so unions are poised for negotiations. In a slow production period like now, was there a better way than picketing?
The Hawaii Film Office is "relieved this is behind us and pleased that the parties came to an agreement in a relatively short period," said manager Donne Dawson.
NBC agrees. Producers on the Big Island were unavailable for comment.
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