Threatened Hollywood strike could ripple into some projects in Canada

More than 60,000 people who work behind the scenes on U.S. film and television began casting ballots on Friday on whether to give their union a strike mandate, which could lead to a mass walkout and Hollywood's biggest disruption to production since the 1940s.

The vote was announced after months of talks broke down between the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) over two agreements covering U.S. film and television productions. 

The union has been negotiating for better quality-of-life conditions — longer breaks during a workday, shift turnaround provisions and assurances that members won't have to work so many consecutive hours on set that they become exhausted.

Messages from union members, writing anonymously, have been pouring in via social media, describing onerous working conditions.

"I was the prop master on a big budget network show. Exhausted, biking home from the stage one night, I was hit by a car and my neck was broken and several vertebrae were cracked," writes one worker on the Instagram feed ia_stories.

"My first thought when I awoke in the hospital was that I had to get to work the next day for a big stunt scene."

The contract dispute has drawn support for the union from a number of celebrities, including Josh Ruben, Seth Rogan, Ben Stiller and Lily Tomlin.