In accordance with the recently executed IATSE Production Workers’ Agreement (“PWA”), the “Production Assistant” classification is a union-represented category for short-term, project-based freelance employees employed to work on a commercial production.
Pursuant to the PWA: “Employers are engaged in the production of commercials pursuant to contracts with advertising agencies and/or advertisers. The IATSE represents all freelance (as that term is understood and applied in the commercial production industry) employees in the job classifications of Production Assistants, Assistant Production Supervisors, Production Supervisors, Line Producers, and Bidding Producers who work in the production of commercials.”
Historically, the title “Production Assistant” has been used broadly in the commercial production industry to cover a wide variety of miscellaneous or general support duties in service of commercial production companies without regard to whether the person was working on a commercial production. With the advent of the PWA, if you are not currently specific in defining the job of freelance employees, you need to reasses and possibly revise your practices.
For PWA signatory employers: Freelance workers employed on a temporary basis to perform miscellaneous duties who are not assigned to a commercial production may not be employed as a “Production Assistant” and they may not receive the terms, conditions, or benefits (e.g., PHBP) of the PWA.
Such miscellaneous non-production work must be assigned an appropriate non-represented classification that reflects the work they have been engaged to perform for the production company.
This is solely intended to address the practice of employing freelance non-production workers on a temporary basis. The PWA does not apply to staff employees of a signatory production company, regardless of job title or job duties, which may overlap with the covered classifications and duties of freelance represented workers (e.g., a “Staff Production Supervisor” or “Staff Bidding Producer”).
Necessary Disclaimer: The information provided here is a general overview for educational purposes and should not be considered fully comprehensive or exhaustive of the subject matter covered. For guidance on specific situations or other contract-related questions, please contact David Michael González, VP of Labor Relations, davidg@aicp.com, and Ralph Loyola, Labor Relations Manager, ralphl@aicp.com.