In mid-February, IATSE President Thomas Short and HBO Senior Vice President Richard Waltzer announced that the IATSE and HBO Pictures had reached an agreement on the production of long-form programming for first exhibition on the Home Box Office Pay Television Service.
This agreement was the first collective bargaining agreement between the IATSE and HBO. National in scope, the agreement covers HBO Pictures productions for pay television throughout the United States and establishes the wages, benefits and working conditions of all the craft employees represented by the IATSE and employed on HBO Picture films.   As a national agreement, the terms of the agreement apply to employees hired anywhere in the United States, including the IATSE’s established production cities, Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Cleveland, Detroit, Orlando, St.  Louis and Washington, D. C.  The Industry Experience Roster provisions of the IATSE’s Basic Agreement are applicable to employees hired in Los Angeles as is coverage in the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans.   Crews hired in the production cities or in other areas where there are established benefit plans will be covered by those plans.  The minimum wage rates for crews employed in the production cities are those applicable to long form television productions, such as movies-of-the-week and mini-series.  Area standard wage rates are provided for employees outside of the designated production cities.   
President Short stated, “The IATSE is very proud to have negotiated a first time national collective bargaining agreement with HBO who is a leader in prestigious and highly acclaimed television shows.  We look forward to a long and constructive IA HBO relationship that will now provide representation for the technicians, artisans and craftspersons who will be employed by HBO and continues the lA’s program on representation of the crafts in the entertainment industry.”
HBO Senior Vice President Richard Waltzer stated, “As the world’s premiere producer of television movies, HBO is pleased to expand its pool of creative talent to include many of the premier technicians, artisans and craftspersons in the industry.  It is a logical and long overdue recognition of a good working relationship.”