(Bloomberg) -- One of Hollywood’s most powerful unions set an Oct. 18 strike date, turning up the pressure on studios in a fight over pay and work conditions.

Workers will walk out at 12:01 a.m. Pacific time on that date, said the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents thousands of art directors, camera operators and editors.

A strike would cripple the film and TV industry while it’s still struggling to rebound from Covid-related shutdowns and health restrictions over the past year and a half. Both Netflix Inc. and Walt Disney Co. have blamed weaker-than-expected growth in online subscriptions to the challenges of getting new programming.

Talks will continue this week, the union said.

“However, the pace of bargaining doesn’t reflect any sense of urgency,” IATSE President Matthew Loeb said in a statement. “Without an end date, we could keep talking forever. Our members deserve to have their basic needs addressed now.”  

IATSE has never gone on strike in its 128 years. But many workers, who are seeking shorter hours in a new contract, have faced grueling production schedules amid the post-shutdown reopenings. A key issue for the union: rest and meal breaks, and higher wages for the lowest-paid workers (some have earned about $15 an hour). 

Members are also seeking to bring compensation negotiated with streaming services in line with pay offered by traditional media companies.

The union has been negotiating with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents major studios including Netflix Inc. and Amazon.com Inc.

There are about 60,000 IATSE members, mostly based in Los Angeles, who fill many behind-the-scenes roles. Three of the union’s chapters are national in scope, so a strike would stop work across the country, potentially affecting almost 1 million jobs directly tied to television and film production.

A crippling writers strike 13 years ago dragged on for 100 days. It cost the industry $2 billion, according to the Milken Institute, and was felt beyond Hollywood by a range of businesses, from restaurants to tailors, that rely on production for business.

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