FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 30, 2023

TEAMSTERS OVERWHELMINGLY RATIFY NEW 3-YEAR AGREEMENTS WITH AICP

Teamsters Local 399 members that work in commercials overwhelmingly ratify new 3-year agreements with the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) covering Studio Transportation Drivers and Location Scout/Managers. 

LOS ANGELES, CA – This afternoon, Teamster Local 399 members that work in Commercials ratified both AICP Agreements. These two agreements cover about 500 members that work regularly in commercials, however over 1,000 Local 399 members have worked at least one-day in the last year and were part of the voting pool. The voter pool consisted of active members with the Union and those that had worked under these agreements at least (1) day in the last year. 

The Union shared to members this afternoon that this was the best contract Local 399 has ever fought to achieve in its history with the AICP. They attributed these historic gains to the fight and solidarity of the members that work in Commercials. 

“I want to take a moment to thank all of our members in Commercials for standing together to achieve one of the best AICP contracts our Local has ever seen,” said Joshua Staheli, Vice President of Local 399 and Chief Negotiator “This is because our members stood together. You made your priorities known, you participated in our quarterly Commercial meetings, you rallied on Commercial sets during our contract campaign, and you gave us the leverage of being willing to call for a strike if needed.”

Notable gains from both agreements are: 

  • Minimum wage increases of 6%, 4% & 4% throughout the contract, however some groups saw wage increases of up to 20%. 
  • Elimination of the Class B & C rate bringing all drivers to at least the Class A rate.
  • Hyphenated Drivers went from a $5 to a $13/hour bump in their wage rate. 
  • Increased overtime compensation. 
  • Increased kit rentals. 
  • Penalty if employers fail to give employees notification of call time in a timely manner so as not to impact their rest as well as increased rest periods overall. 
  • Preservation of all medical and retirement benefits. 
  • Covering Chef Assistants in Commercials in 2026
  • & More. 

The exceptional gains in this agreement were reaffirmed by the ratification numbers. Local 399 Members ratified the Driver agreement by 94.12% and the Locations Agreement by 96.90%. Click here to view the MOA for the Drivers and the MOA for the Location Scout/Managers.

“This contract fight has set a strong tone as we prepare for bargaining with the AMPTP next year,” said Local 399 Principal Officer, Lindsay Dougherty. “Teamsters don’t back down and are always ready to fight. We are proud of these two units for fighting alongside one another and for raising the Industry standard and expectations for all.”

Teamsters began bargaining with the AICP in early May of this year. A tentative agreement was achieved on June 21st. Members had from June 28th until June 30th to vote electronically on the ratification. 

The agreement will take effect July 1st, 2023; however, many provisions will officially go into effect on July 30th, 2023. 

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Teamsters Local 399 represents 6,400 members in the Motion Picture Industry in California and New Mexico including Drivers, Animal Trainers/Handlers, Wranglers, Dispatchers, DOT Admins, Location Professionals, Casting Professionals, Chef Assistants, Mechanics, Auto Service, Warehouse workers and more.