IATSE Endorses Wage-Based Tax Credit Bill to Combat Job Flight

IA President Tom Short endorsed legislation that would offer a wage-based tax credit so that production companies could write off part of employee wages. “The United States Independent Film and Television Production Incentive Act of 2001” (S.1278) outlines financial incentives that could help Hollywood compete with cheaper foreign locales. Short’s endorsement aligns the IATSE with the DGA, SAG and the Entertainment Industry Development Corp. in their support of the legislation, which was introduced by Arkansas Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln.

The bill provides a wage credit of 25% of qualified wages, for up to $25,000 paid to each employee per year. If the production were done in a designated low-income community, the credit would increase to 35%. To qualify for these advantages, the production would have to be either a motion picture (released theatrically or directly to videocassette), television or cable program, mini series, television episode, movie of the week or pilot production. The production would also be required to have a majority of its days of principal photography done within the United States, and to be created primarily for use as public entertainment or for educational purposes. The total cost for qualified wages on the production would have to fall between $200,000 and $10 million.

IATSE | Legislation can found by entering S.1278 into the search engine at http://thomas.loc.gov.

US Studios Threaten Boycott of Canadian Productions

Despite a profusion of financial advantages to shooting north of the border, American studios are insisting on further concessions from the Canadian performers’ union. The Alliance of

Stephen Waddell, National Executive Director of the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA).

Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA) represents 18,000 English-speaking performers working in recorded media in Canada. Their Independent Production Agreement formally expires January 16, 2002, with negotiations scheduled to begin October 16.

Warner Bros., Paramount and Twentieth Century Fox made it clear that unless ACTRA guaranteed that its members would not strike before upcoming productions wrap, the studios would take as many as four features elsewhere. In hopes of averting the loss of millions of dollars and hundreds of jobs, ACTRA made a tactical concession in August, promising that its members would not walk off the sets of any film or TV project begun before the January 16 strike deadline

“It is unprecedented for us, but it is a useful process to ensure that productions will feel confident about coming to Canada, and it allows the negotiations to proceed on schedule,” said Stephen Waddell, National Executive Director of ACTRA. “We don’t believe it will weaken our bargaining position. We’ll be entering negotiations with intent to reach an equitable agreement, and we hope the parties will come to the negotiating table on October 16 and present reasonable proposals to each other.

“No one at ACTRA wants a strike and there won’t be one, provided the producers are willing to negotiate a fair and equitable settlement,” said Waddell. “The U.S. producers assert that the mere possibility of a performers’ strike is forcing them to reconsider the investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in the Canadian economy. The truth is, in 60 years of successful collective bargaining, ACTRA has never called a strike against producers of independent film and television.”

ACTRA

U.S. Lawmakers to Scrutinize “Unconscionable” Personal Service Contracts

State and federal lawmakers plan to launch hearings into contractual and accounting practices by American media companies, particularly in the music industry. This comes on the heels of a series of high-profile lawsuits and newfound activism among recording artists. Sharp criticism of industry customs is resonating in Washington and Sacramento, where officials are preparing to examine what rock stars such as Courtney Love and Don Henley are calling the “unconscionable” contracts and accounting practices at the Big Five music conglomerates. Many of these companies are multi-media transnationals that also produce motion pictures. Any such reforms in the music business would be welcomed by many in the film business.

Kicking off the process in Sacramento in September, state hearings will zero in on California Labor Code Section 2855, designed to protect entertainers from being tied to any company for more than seven years. Musicians lost that protection in 1987, when record companies secured an amendment to the law granting them power to collect damages for undelivered albums. Recording artists believe the amendment is unfair. Music companies also are feeling the heat on Capitol Hill, where Representative Mark Foley (R-Fla.), chair of the House’s Entertainment Industry task force, said Congress also plans to hold hearings on contractual rights.

California Section 2855 was instituted some 50 years ago after a legal battle by film star Olivia de Havilland to free actors from long-term studio deals. The law allowed actors, for the first time, to negotiate employment contracts based upon their fair market value — a move that ultimately brought down the Hollywood studio system.

LA Times

Coca-Cola Sued for Murder of Trade Union Leader in Colombia

The International Labor Rights Fund and the United Steel Workers Union filed suit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida against Coca-Cola Company and Pan-

Right-wing Colombian paramilitaries belonging to the United Self-Defense Forces (AUC) view union organizers as 'legitimate' targets in their war against Colombia's insurgents. Photo by Garry M. Leech.

American Beverages, Inc., the primary bottler of Coke products in Latin America. The suit alleges that Coke bottling plants in Colombia use paramilitary security forces to murder, torture, and kidnap trade union leaders.

The case was initiated by Sinaltrainal, the trade union that represents workers at Coke facilities in Colombia. The union has long considered Coke among the most notorious employers in Colombia and claims that the company maintains open relations with death squads as part of a program to intimidate trade union leaders. By filing the case, the union hopes to highlight Colombia’s terrible distinction of having more trade union leaders murdered each year than any other country, and to show Coke’s role in the situation.

“This case is extremely important for trade union and human rights. If we cannot get Coke, one of the most well-known companies in the world, to protect the lives and human rights of the workers at its world-wide bottling facilities, then we certainly have a long way to go in making the global economy safe for trade unionists,” said Daniel Kovalik, Assistant General Counsel of the Steelworkers and co-counsel for the plaintiffs.

International Labor Rights Fund

First UNI World Congress Meets in Berlin

More than 1300 people attended the first ever Union Network International World Congress, held in Berlin on September 5-9. UNI is a global federation of over 800 unions from 140 countries, with a total of 15 million affiliated members.

Swiss-based UNI was launched on January 1, 2000 as a response to the growing, global convergence of media and entertainment, information technology and telecommunications industries. The founding partners of UNI were the Media & Entertainment International (MEI), the white-collar international FIET, the Communications International (CI), and the International Graphical Federation (IGF). The IATSE announced its affiliation with Union Network International during the IA’s last convention.

The formation of UNI demonstrates that internationalism is not simply a matter of principle and belief, but also an essential practical response to an increasingly globalized economy. UNI has a valuable role to play in improving communication and co-ordination between its affiliates, so that they can better address the problems thrown up by a global economic system that is ultimately not meeting human needs. The task now is to strengthen UNI’s work.

UNI