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After an international labor union for theater employees threatened to boycott the American Film Institute for allegedly not allowing more than 20 of its Silver Spring employees to join the union, both sides reached an agreement for wage and benefit improvements last week.

AFI Director Ray Barry said negotiations were amiable between AFI and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and that the agreement reached was beneficial to both sides.

"We want the best for our employees and the best for our operations as well," said Barry, who is based out of AFI's Silver Spring offices on Colesville Road, and who said the details of the agreement were not released to the public. "We are very satisfied; we concluded there wasn't much of a gap between us."

Last month, the IATSE had issued a statement that the organization would boycott all activities of AFI, a nonprofit organization based out of Silver Spring and Los Angeles. IATSE claimed AFI engaged in "clear and outrageous anti-union activities" in discouraging its ushers and ticket-takers from joining IATSE, according to the statement from IATSE President Matthew D. Loeb.

"AFI has engaged in activities meant to disparage the union, discourage support for representation and otherwise exploit the sensitive position of employees exercising their right for representation by creating undue fear and uncertainty about their futures," Loeb wrote in the statement.

Barry declined to address IATSE's public statements.

On Nov. 4, the IATSE announced the sides had an agreement that would provide "significant wage, benefit and condition improvements" for the more than 20 Silver Spring employees that will now be represented by IATSE. More than 110,000 technicians, artisans and craftspeople employed in stagecraft, motion picture and television production throughout the United States and Canada are represented by IATSE. About 25 projectionists at AFI's Silver Spring office are already represented by IATSE, Barry said.

Neither Barry nor IATSE spokeswoman Katherine Orloff would disclose specific terms of the agreement. Negotiations were resolved in just more than one day without any work stoppage.

The agreement came during AFI Fest, a more than week-long film festival at AFI's Los Angeles theaters. In announcing the agreement with AFI, IATSE noted that Loeb was "threatening potential action at the site of the AFI Fest... if the matter remained unresolved" and that Loeb "had planned to be present for any necessary activities" at AFI Fest.

Orloff would not discuss what those threats may have entailed.

"What would've or could've or should've happened is irrelevant, because it didn't happen," Orloff said.