by Martin Levenstein, Guild 2nd Vice President

Working with Cinematographers

At the quarterly membership meeting on September 3, we welcomed Chaim Kantor, Eastern Region Director of the International Cinematographers Guild, Local 600 (ICG), and John Amman, Business Representative. Together with Assistant Executive Director Paul Moore, they have been working very successfully on developing a coalition of entertainment industry unions, with the goal of presenting a unified negotiating presence to producers who undertake “live event” projects within our eastern jurisdiction. This informal cooperation has already generated enormous benefits for union members and producers as well.

The first success story was NBC’s Macy’s Fourth of July broadcast. Local 600 was informed about the event because their members were manning the cameras. Local 700 was notified because the technical directors, who work directly with the show director and control the switching of the cameras, are under our jurisdiction. Ultimately, a deal was negotiated that covered the camera crews and the technical directors as well as their assistants. This same strategy worked for other live performance broadcasts, such as The Tony Awards on CBS, A Capitol Fourth on PBS, the Latin Grammys, and the MTV Music Awards.

Moore explained that by working with Local 600 and other locals, we increase our potential to become involved early in the development of a project and thus have a better chance of obtaining an agreement. It is also a way to attract new members. Many technical directors are freelancers and non-union, working without the benefit of a collective bargaining agreement. The workplace protections and health and pension benefits that our agreements provide are very attractive. Often, there is only one technical director per show, and under labor law, a shop of one cannot be organized. By having a comprehensive agreement involving all unions, the technical directors can become a powerful voice in their workplace.

Another benefit is that as more and more technical directors become union members and start working on covered employment, we have greater presence and recognition in the industry. A longer-term goal is to have producers recognize the benefit of working with capable, skilled union members who can be relied upon to do their jobs professionally.

Kantor noted that producers actually appreciate a coordinated presentation by labor to discuss a deal and get it done. That way, they don’t have to keep coming back to the table each time another craft comes on board. In addition, administering the agreement is much easier for both sides under this coordinated approach.

The stagecraft locals are a key piece of this strategy, as their members work in facilities where many broadcast events take place. For many years they have focused only on their specific jurisdiction, but now an effort is being made to show them the advantages that come from working as part of a coalition. Kantor and Amman pointed out that when we sign an agreement with a producer, the union is able to demand a list of all craft persons working on the show. This helps to alert us to employees who the producers might hire from outside the agreement, and whether or not these individuals are union members. The event stagehands generally work for the event facility, and by not having a contract with the producer, are not able to ask for this information. We are able to share our knowledge with the stagecraft workers, who wish to know about non-union workers who might be brought in from the outside.

Questions from the audience related to this topic as well as our participation in the East Coast Council. The East Coast Council is a coalition of East Coast entertainment locals that negotiate jointly with low-budget theatrical producers to obtain agreements on projects that otherwise might not be made union. Kantor stated that ICG’s local members prefer working under East Coast Council agreements rather than IA Low Budget agreements because of the possibility, however slim, of receiving their negotiated salary deferments. (IA Low Budget agreements negotiate wages without deferments.) Guild members brought up the important point of having a subcontracting clause that would make it difficult for producers to contract non-union picture and sound editing services outside of these agreements. Both Moore and Kantor stressed that such language was now written into the agreements, and Kantor pledged that his local would do its part to ensure that such violations do not occur.

The close relationship that we now have with Local 600 is very important to the Editor’s Guild in New York. Both locals share a vision of aggressively defining the employment base and courting producers, rather than waiting for union work to come to us.
How can individual members help? Report your non-union jobs to the office. Then Paul and the staff can work toward obtaining a collective bargaining agreement for your project. Remember, everything is kept confidential, and you’ll be helping not only yourself but all of us by strengthening the Guild.

Register and Vote!

Eastern Region Director A. Maddy Shirazi is co-chair with board member Sharon Smith Holley in Los Angeles of a voter registration committee organized to register Editor’s Guild members, their friends and families. Shirazi presented the idea at the Guild’s National Board meeting in July after reading an article by IA President Tom Short stressing the importance of the 2004 elections to union members and urging them to assert their right to vote. The board unanimously supported this important effort.

At the quarterly membership meeting, Shirazi outlined his plan to have volunteers visit editing rooms and workplaces as part of the registration drive. He said that in the past, many New Yorkers would not register because they feared doing so would put them on the jury selection rolls. Now, the process of jury selection is no longer linked to voter registration. People need to register by February in order to participate in New York’s primary election. “An organized, informed, registered, and voting labor bloc can and will make a difference. We have the power to effect change in this country, but only by our vote,” said Shirazi. He ended with a quote from anthropologist Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” As we have learned from past elections, every vote truly does count.