Should awards shows reserve equal airtime for craft categories and acting awards?

There is a labor story here, not just an etiquette story. In 2021, IATSE members voted overwhelmingly to authorize a nationwide strike over brutal hours and working conditions, the kind of conditions created by the same industry the Oscars celebrate. IATSE. When the telecast then shunts craft categories off the air, it tells those workers their labor is good enough to build the movies but not to be seen accepting for them, right when public visibility matters most for their bargaining power. Awards are one of the few moments below-the-line workers get in front of a mass audience. Treat that as expendable and you weaken the public standing of the next contract fight. Equal airtime says the industry's highest-profile night stands with the crews, not just the stars. That is worth more than any montage.