Union members are picketing local sites where a new Stephen King miniseries is being filmed in protest of the production company's refusal to negotiate a contract paying them health and pension benefits.
The television miniseries is based on the Stephen King novel "The Stand." Filming of the $28 million budget production began in February and will continue until June. In Utah, portions of the series are being filmed in the Salt Lake and Utah County areas. The series is scheduled to air sometime this fall.Les Blanchard, international representative for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, set up picket lines at location sites being used for the production more than a week ago. The alliance represents people who work in such jobs as cameramen, sound recorders and mixers, propmakers, set decorators, art directors and grips.
Laurel Entertainment Inc. has hired about 75 local people to work on the set in those areas. Because of the dispute, few members of the alliance are working on the set.
"People are happy with the wage and working conditions," Blanchard said. "The only thing we did ask them is to provide medical and pension benefits."
Health and pension benefits cost $1.97 per hour per person, Blanchard said.
Laurel Entertainment told the union it couldn't afford to provide that benefit coverage, he said. A publicist for Laurel Entertainment Inc. said the company had no comment on the situation.
Because Utah is a right-to-work state, nonunion workers may work on jobs covered by union contracts without being required to join the union. Nonunion workers are paid at the same rate as union employees on such jobs.
"The issue is producers are led to believe they can come here and won't have to deal with the union," Blanchard said. The Teamsters and AFL-CIO are supporting the picket.
Leigh von der Esch, director of the Utah Film Commission, said there was some delay in series' production schedule because of the picketing, but those on the picket line have been orderly and are allowing crew members to go on the set.
"From our vantage point, we don't want to send the signal to Hollywood that nonunion work is no longer welcome here," von der Esch said. "On the other hand, we've never advertised as our main thrust that Utah is a right-to-work state."
Von der Esch said some unions don't allow people to join until they've had a certain amount of working experience; that can range from as little as 30 days to as much as 300 days.
The only way they can get experience is to work on a nonunion basis, she said. Von der Esch believes the picketing is "not about Utah wages and jobs. It's about taking jobs out of California."
Blanchard denied that. Although he is from California, as an international representative he works on behalf of union members everywhere. "I have no boundaries," he said.
Laurel also plans to film portions of the miniseries in Las Vegas and Pittsburgh. The production company has not negotiated contracts in either state yet with the alliance, Blanchard said.
"We won't allow them to negotiate there until they sign an agreement here in Utah," he said.