November 24, 2020
Dear Members:
When we and our sister unions negotiated the safety and testing protocols in our Return to Work agreement with producers, we knew that as circumstances changed, adjustments would be required to manage the risk of exposure to COVID-19 in the workplace. The good news is that production has been ramping back up since that time, and early signs indicate that the protocols are achieving their objective of reducing risk and catching infected individuals early in the disease, in most cases before they are contagious. But there are steeper challenges up ahead as the prevalence of COVID-19 in our communities is surging – which, if not taken seriously and not addressed properly, may have devastating consequences for our industry.
Today, as COVID-19 spikes throughout the country, the upcoming holidays pose an extraordinary risk for increased virus spread. Though we strongly encourage everyone to avoid gathering in public places or with friends and extended family over the holidays, the fact remains that this is still a high-risk time period for everyone. We also know that there is lag time in between initial contact with the virus and when it can be detected in a test.
To account for this, the Guild and our sister unions have negotiated terms to provide the employers with the flexibility and economic incentive to increase post-holiday testing and take additional time to get results before resuming production. If additional days are needed to test the crew, producers may:
Delay the post-Thanksgiving start of production until Thursday, December 3, 2020, at the latest, without payment of intervening days for directors.
Prorate the salary of a weekly employee who works fewer than 5 days in the week following Thanksgiving and/or the Christmas/New Year hiatus.
Enact a workweek shift without payment of a premium if additional time is needed to accommodate testing of employees before resuming production after Thanksgiving and/or the Christmas/New Years hiatus.
In addition, Zone B employees will be tested twice the week following Thanksgiving.
If you have questions about this agreement or how your employer is handling the holiday hiatus, please contact the DGA Contracts line at 310-289-2010.
The full holiday agreement can be found here, and in the Coronavirus Resources page.