Production Assistants on CBS Series Cupertino File for Union Election

Production assistants on the CBS series Cupertino filed for a union election on Friday to join Production Assistants United, The Hollywood Reporter reported. Organizers submitted paperwork covering 23 assistants working on the Mike Colter-led show. The series, created by Robert and Michelle King, is produced by CBS Studios and scheduled to premiere in the fall.

It films in New Jersey despite its name, drawn from the California city that houses Apple headquarters. The plot centers on a former tech lawyer who joins another attorney to sue technology companies after his own employer turns against him. CBS Studios declined to comment.

Production Assistants United, affiliated with LiUNA Local 724, has organized assistants on multiple series since 2025, including Warner Bros. Television productions The Pitt, Abbott Elementary, George & Mandy’s First Marriage and All American, plus Universal Television’s Chicago Med and Chicago Fire.

The group is still negotiating its first contract with Universal Television’s The Four Seasons, which streams on Netflix.

This filing represents the first unionization attempt by Production Assistants United at a CBS Studios show. In a statement, the organizing assistants said the industry relies on “incredibly hardworking craftspeople and laborers” and questioned why production assistants have been “conditioned to think they don’t deserve” healthcare, turnarounds and fair wages.

They added that studios are “actively eroding the old standard for PA contracts” by removing 12-hour guarantees and lowering pay rates.

A representative for the group noted that recent non-union deal memos for New York-area productions, though not Cupertino itself, have omitted 12-hour guarantees. The assistants seek to restore that protection through collective bargaining.