'Rachael Ray' Crew Members Demand Pay Amid Coronavirus Cuts

The Rachael Ray Show‘s crew is seeking payment.

More than 20 workers for Rachael Ray‘s daytime TV show are “being cut loose without warning and without pay,” Variety reported Wednesday (October 28).

PHOTOS: Check out the latest pics of Rachael Ray

Back in March, the staff was informed that Rachael would shoot the remainder of the season remotely from her house in upstate New York amid the pandemic, without on-site assistance, and “that displaced crew members would not be paid for the five scheduled shoot days remaining in the season.”

That then led to a dispute by IATSE, which claimed its contract with the show covering 18 union camera operators, audio engineers and other technical crew requires producers to pay furloughed workers for remote shoot days that had originally been planned for the studio.

While the crew was told they’d return to the Manhattan studio in November, the plans have since changed, and negotiations between producers and IATSE have not led anywhere. The dispute is now heading for arbitration, according to the report.

“When COVID-19 forced our studio production to shut down in March, we started shooting Rachael Ray at Rachael’s home out of necessity. As we moved into fall, with COVID cases increasing, we made the difficult decision to continue to shoot the show from Rachael’s home for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, this new format has affected some valued studio crew, including IATSE members. CBS Television Distribution has continued to pay those affected through September and October, and we have reached out to IATSE to discuss mitigation efforts going forward,” a spokesperson for CBS told Variety.

Spokespersons for both Rachael Ray and IATSE did not respond to Variety‘s repeated requests for comment.

Rachael revealed extensive fire damage at her home in September.