EDITOR'S NOTE
Last Flat Deal Gone Down
And Other Contract Violations
by Catherine Cusimano
 Catherine Cusimano |
Thanks to more and more members having a greater understanding of the contracts under which they work, and calling the office with questions, the Editors Guild has been able to resolve many contract violations that have occurred. Following are just a few examples.
This past pilot season, it was night premiums, golden hours and meal penalties that were missing from the pay stubs of the picture editorial crews on the West Coast. By talking to the members and going over the hours worked, I was able to determine what was owed and get them paid––without much hassle, I might add.
Payments due under these provisions add up and I am always astonished at the final amount when I calculate it for members. So, continue to write your hours on your timecards and make copies before you turn them in. Having these copies makes correcting your pay and benefit contributions so much easier.
Specifically on the sound side of things, several calls have come in regarding flat deals. To remind you, there are no flat deals. Everyone has either a daily or a weekly guarantee. You should never be paid by the reel or by the episode. Very loud bells and whistles should be going off in your head and you should see large red flags falling from the sky if you ever receive a pay stub with your wages (or payment for overtime worked) designated as a “box rental,” or if taxes were not taken out (unless you are being paid through your signatory loan-out corporation). Chances are that in these cases, your benefit contributions were not made. Also, be wary when your deal is structured “X amount of dollars for X amount of weeks.” All agree that getting a huge check is great––but if you divide that amount by all the hours and weeks you worked, are you still getting at least scale? Probably not; at least that was the case with an issue I dealt with recently.
Of course, our members back East are not immune from contract violations either. It’s just that the violations manifest themselves differently than here in Los Angeles. For example, on one independent feature film in New York, no one on the crew received a paycheck for three weeks. They were repeatedly told the checks were on the way and that it was just a minor glitch in moving the money from one account to another. The crew members were not aware that the problem was bigger than just the editing room, so they kept working to ensure that the post schedule would not be disrupted.
Before long, it was discovered that in an effort to keep the production crew paid and complete the shooting, the production company was well over $100,000 in outstanding invoices from rental companies and other vendors––and its bank account was empty. The Guild’s East Coast staff eventually succeeded in getting everyone paid. But unfortunately, on this same feature, the Guild had to pursue the company again at the end of the job because the requisite vacation payments, which amounted to almost $10,000, were not paid.
East Coast Field Representative Annie Ballard has also been working on an issue at a facility where a member noticed that dues were accidentally being deducted from his paycheck. The amount was in accordance with another union’s “dues check-off” provision, but the deduction was labeled “IATSE,” so the member did not immediately notice the problem, confusing it with “IAP” and assuming it was some legitimate employer contribution to our pension plan. When approached, the employer originally said it “couldn’t do anything about it” because that deduction was part of the payroll software programming. Ballard reminded the employer that it is not optional for the company to “do something about it,” and is in the process of getting the member back the money that was wrongly deducted, as well as pushing the employer to fix its payroll “programming glitch.”
Since Local 700 bills its members directly, the employer should never deduct
the cost of your dues from your check, nor should your wages ever be reduced
by the cost of your benefits.
This is only a small example of what we, as your representatives, do. None of
these issues could have been handled and resolved if the members had not made
the call and given us the tools needed to resolve them. I encourage all of you
to familiarize yourself with the various contracts, and keep track of your days
worked in your calendar. On our website, www.editorsguild.com, aspects of most
of the contracts are explained in plain English. Check them out and, if you
have any questions or concerns, please call us.
East Coast Field Representative Annie Ballard contributed to this article.
Catherine Cusimano is a Field Representative in the Guild’s Hollywood office.