Two previously separate IATSE unions are preparing to merge by the end of the year, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The studio teachers‘ union Local 884 is set to combine with the property craftsperson union Local 44 following a member vote approving the consolidation. Eighty-five percent of participating members of Local 884 voted “yes” on the merger earlier this month, while 90 percent of Local 44 voted to support the combination a few weeks before, according to sources.
As part of the consolidation, Local 884 members will become Local 44 members and Local 44 will add studio teacher representation to its executive board and its delegates. Local 884, an ultra-small Local that previously didn’t have an office, will move its operations to Local 44’s Valley Village headquarters.
Local 44, chartered in 1939, represents propmakers, property masters, set decorators, coordinators and special effects technicians, among others. According to the union’s latest LM-2 filming with the Department of Labor, it boasts nearly 7,000 members.
Local 884, which was chartered in 1960, is exclusively devoted to on-set educators, who also serve as minors‘ welfare advocates on set. It had 106 members as of its 2025 filing.
Local 884 previously struggled with its business operations due to its size and most of its work being accomplished by volunteers, according to Local 44 business agent Tobey Bays. He says the Local had been considering combining with another union for a handful of years. During that time, Bays raised his hand for the task: “I said I’m willing and it would be great to help out,“ he said in an interview. “Look, our leadership’s been established, we have a war chest, my board was 100 percent in support.”
Though he conceded that property craftspersons and teachers may seem like a bit of an odd pairing, “We’ll make it fit, we’ll open our arms,” he said. And the Hollywood labor world is no stranger to motley groupings at the Local level — take IATSE Local 80, which counts grips, craft service workers and first-aid workers in its ranks, or the Teamsters Local 399, which includes both drivers and casting directors.
The combination is occurring after several years of rank-and-file Hollywood workers, often represented by one IATSE Local or another, facing a sharp downturn in work. In 2025 alone, members worked around 78.9 million hours, representing a decline of nearly 36 percent from 2022, according to IATSE.
That plunge in work amid the larger Hollywood contraction has challenged industry unions as well. It has meant more workers putting their union membership on hold or leaving the industry altogether and fewer dues paid to labor organizations, as well as reduced contributions into union health plans.
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