CBS’ ‘Cupertino’ Production Assistants File for Unionization (Exclusive)
Production assistants on CBS’ upcoming Silicon Valley legal drama Cupertino filed for a union election on Friday in an attempt to join the Production Assistants United labor group.
A group of organizers filed to unionize 23 PAs on the Mike Colter-fronted show on Friday. Though named after the Californian city that is home to Apple, the CBS series from The Good Fight creators Robert and Michelle King films in New Jersey.
Cupertino, which is slated to premiere in the fall on CBS, follows a former tech lawyer (Colter) who, after experiencing a betrayal from his former employer, teams up with another attorney to represent underdogs in litigation against tech giants.
CBS Studios, which produces the series, did not have a comment.
In a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, PAs spoke about their value on set generally. “The entertainment industry on the production level is full of incredibly hardworking craftspeople and laborers. Healthcare, turnarounds and fair wages are all safeguards for workers to ensure that they are given a high quality of life. Why have production assistants been conditioned to think they don’t deserve those things as well?” the group said.
Their statement continued, “Especially right now, studios are actively eroding the old standard for PA contracts – taking away 12-hour guarantees and lowering pay rates. Our union effort is a way for us to ensure that we can have a voice in these conversations that determine our livelihoods.”
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A representative for Production Assistants United clarified that productions in the New York area, but not Cupertino, have recently not been including 12-hour guarantees in non-union deal memos for PAs. The organizing workers would like to assert the importance of the 12-hour guarantee, the representative said.
This is the first unionization push for Production Assistants United on a show for CBS Studios. The group, which is affiliated with the Hollywood union LiUNA Local 724, has since 2025 unionized Warner Bros. Television shows The Pitt, Abbott Elementary, George & Mandy’s First Marriage and All American as well as Universal Television’s Chicago Med and Chicago Fire.
The union is still negotiating an agreement with Universal Television’s The Four Seasons, which streams on Netflix.
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