4MC Still Fights Union and Underpays Workers The battle against Four Media has again heated up. After four months of negotiation following our May 1st kick-off rally, 4MC told the Editors Guild that they would not sign a contract to cover the entire Alameda Street facility. The company made an offer to cover only the second floor sound department in the facility. This would have excluded two other units within the building, including picture editing, telecine, colorization, graphics and satellite broadcast services. The company continues to declare that the union is somehow bad for the company. However, they continue to successfully operate the first floor under the Basic Agreement at the facility. This department generates a large amount of revenue for the company. The employees are pleased and they are very productive. In contrast many people on the other floors are miserable. They do not know if they will have a job one day to the next, and many support staff make well below that of their industry counterparts. We have reached the end of the road diplomatically at this point. The company has given us no other option than to make this campaign protracted and public. Their strategy has been to buy up a significant part of the post production industry. They hope by accumulating enough facilities and raising gross earnings, that they can raise their stock prices, and when the value is high enough, to sell the stock. Under 4MC's plan, any increased cost to studios will not be reflected in higher wages or benefits for employees. Rather the increased profits will be returned to shareholders, while employees will continue down the slippery slope of lower wages and shrinking benefits. In the coming weeks we will update you on 4MC's latest efforts to injure the Guild, and our members in Hollywood. We cannot emphasize enough how important it is for the post production people in this town to stand together on this issue. The IATSE Basic Agreement holds the promise of a decent wage and benefits for both production and post-production personnel in Hollywood. 4MC holds the promise of declining wages and shrinking benefits. We have to remind 4MC that their employees are human beings, with families, mortgages and car payments. They want what is fair, and in return they will produce an excellent product. We must all unite to tell 4MC, "MAKE A DEAL."   Reprinted from The Motion Picture Editors Guild Newsletter Vol. 19, No. 5 - September/October 1998   Guild Home | Newsletter Home | Top of Page   Copyright © 1998, All Rights Reserved by The Motion Picture Editors Guild, IATSE Local 776