Hollywood’s Covid-19 Protocols Remain in Place as Negotiations Continue – Deadline

Hollywood’s Covid-19 protocols, which were set to expire on Friday, will remain in place as negotiations continue between AMPTP and DGA, SAG-AFTRA, IATSE, Teamsters and Basic Crafts. In a joint statement, the unions announced “the continuation of negotiations of the return to work agreement while discussions continue with the AMPTP”, and that the current rules “will remain in place until the conclusion of a new agreement”.

First adopted on September 21, 2020, the protocols were originally scheduled to expire on April 30, 2021, but were extended without major changes and contained all of the provisions of the original agreement. These include strictly enforced testing regimes, physical distancing, Covid compliance officers, diligent use of personal protective equipment and a ‘zone’ system to ensure different sections of productions are tightly vetted. depending on proximity to the cast, who often cannot wear masks or maintain social distancing while on the job.

They were extended again on June 30, 2021, and amended three weeks later to give producers “the option to implement mandatory vaccination policies for cast and crew in Area A, production by production.” Area A, where unmasked actors work, is the most restrictive of the secure working areas on the sets. They were extended again on November 11, 2021, January 24, 2022, and again on February 16, April 29 and May 6.

Vaccination mandates, which allow producers to require vaccinations as a condition of employment on a production-by-production basis, have proven to be the most controversial aspect of the protocols. Earlier this month, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher expressed the view that it is now safe to lift the mandates, although the board ultimately took no action.

Supporters of the mandates argued at the board meeting that the mandates should remain in place because vaccines continue to provide a measure of protection against transmission and infection – a view supported by the own SAG-AFTRA expert David Michaels, an epidemiologist and professor at the George Washington University School of Public Health who served as assistant secretary of labor for OSHA during the Obama administration. Earlier this week, the guild’s security committee met and recommended continuing with the existing policy.

Recent data shows that this year in Los Angeles County, Covid deaths have exceeded the number of deaths attributed to the flu, car accidents and drug overdoses combined.

Opponents of the mandates, including Drescher’s own expert — Dr. Harvey Risch, who is professor emeritus of epidemiology in the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at the Yale School of Public Health and Yale School of Medicine — argue that the vaccine is not effective against the spread of the latest subvariants of the virus. Opponents also say many employers have failed to abide by back-to-work agreement provisions that allow warrant exceptions for medical reasons or sincere religious beliefs. They also argue that members who refuse to be vaccinated face discrimination in employment.

Last month, writing in the latest issue of SAG-AFTRA MagazineDrescher said he was “concerned that giving employers the discretionary right to decide which of us can or cannot work based on our medical history is a dangerous slippery slope. If an employer can decide you can’t work unless you’re vaccinated against Covid, what’s next, we can’t work without a monkeypox vaccine? »

“I fully understand and appreciate the importance the vaccine played in saving lives during the early years of the pandemic,” she wrote. “I myself am vaccinated. And when it was added to the Return to Work Agreement (RTWA) last year, it certainly seemed like the right thing to do.

She added, however, that “with thousands of unvaccinated members still unable to work, all new information must be reviewed and considered before deciding our position on the next RTWA. All I ask is that we educate ourselves with the latest scientific knowledge and make an informed decision, as the livelihoods of members are at stake.”

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