Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is on the cusp of a lawsuit after its second win at the Golden Globes. IATSE Local 52 in New York alleges that Picrow Streaming, the company that produces the award-winning series, has made “coercive statements” and “changes in terms of conditions of employment” that violate labor laws.
This charge was made by the union after claims that the production company violated the National Labor Relations Act by discriminating against members who supported the union and who “made complaints to management regarding hours and other working conditions during the film production of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” The charge stated that: “The production team has retaliated against [name redacted] and other members of Local 52 because of this union activity. To which, [name redacted] threatened to remove Local 52 members from the film crew and threatened to never hire [name redacted] again. The production team in fact recently offered [name redacted] a position in the Season 3 production that is a demotion from…Season 2.” The names of the members who are claiming this injustice have been redacted from the charge, which was made by an FOIA request through the NLRB.
In response to the claim, Amazon Studios simply denied it, stating “Amazon Studios fully supports the entire team behind The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” adding that “While we don’t comment on specific personnel matters, these allegations are demonstrably false. Amazon Studios does not tolerate any form of discrimination or retaliation.” IATSE Studio Mechanics Local 52 represents below-the-line crew members, such as grips, electricians, and other tech jobs, meaning staff unrelated to production or acting departments.
Upon further investigation, neither Picrow nor IATSE Studio Mechanics Local 52 responded to further comment. Additionally, this wasn’t the first time Picrow and Amazon Studios had been sued for slighting its crew. Back in 2017, Amazon Studios was charged with underpaying its parking production assistants, with a settlement of over $517,000 for not paying overtime wages. Nevertheless, other crew members claimed that “It’s a good show to work on. They treat the crew really well. We actually look forward to going back.”