NEWS
IA Wins Big in Vegas
by Jeff Burman
 Photo by Tomm Carroll |
On September 9 and 10, the International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE) held its 62nd District 2 meeting in Las Vegas. District meetings are annual opportunities for delegates to talk to their counterparts within the district and to hear what’s going on in the larger Alliance. The IA is divided into 14 districts. District 2 is made up of Arizona, California, Nevada and Hawaii. Some 165 delegates attended this meeting. The Editors Guild delegation consisted of Guild Board members Diane Adler, ACE, and Bill Elias; former Board member Mary Prange; Assistant Executive Director Cathy Repola; and myself.
Speakers on hand were IA President Tom Short, California Labor Federation leader Art Pulaski and the Federation’s Legislative Director Angie Wei. Delegates also attended workshops on labor law, organizing and labor media––and did committee work. The district also hosted a political action committee fundraiser, which collected $8,290. The District 2 meeting was co-chaired by the IA’s 4th Vice President Thom Davis and 10th Vice President Michael Miller, who is also a member of the California Film Commission. The tone was polite, collegial and generally free from conflict. Missy Humphrey, the district secretary-treasurer, deserves kudos for a well-run event.
In his speech, Short pointed to progress being made in negotiations in Montreal and compared the number of members in Canadian IA locals when he started as IA president in 1993 (5,000) to today (15,000). Overall, IA membership has increased in the same time span, from 60,000 to 107,000, he said. Total assets increased from $2 million then to $31 million now. The defined benefit plan’s assets have increased 84 percent and the individual account plan has grown to almost $2 billion. Short said that the IA is now a significant player in the AFL-CIO, since he was named to the federation’s executive council in 2005, and also emphasized that the IA, as a union that represents media workers, is in the right place at the right time to take advantage of new technology and growth.
Short emphasized that at a time when union membership and benefits are widely in decline, this union is growing––both in membership and in funding for its benefits. He also recommitted to his service to the IA in the future, and pressed two additional points. The IA President stated his intention to begin organizing a $3 billion pool of motion picture work done for the federal government, and re-emphasized the IA’s involvement in the political process, lamenting that 35 percent of our members voted for George W. Bush in the last election.
 The Editors Guild delegation to the District 2 meeting in Las Vegas, from left, Mary Prange, Jeff Burman, Bill Elias, Diane Adler and Cathy Repola. Photo by Buffy Snyder |
Pulaski and Wei spoke about the California Labor Federation’s efforts to elect Phil Angelides over Arnold Schwarzenegger in the November 7 election. Pulaski pointed to what many see as an insurmountable 13 percent lead that the governor holds over our candidate––the candidate endorsed by organized labor. Pulaski reasoned that the race will tighten up, since the level of support for Angelides among Democrats is currently at 58 percent, while the level of support for Schwarzeneg-ger among Republicans is at 82 percent, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll. This leaves far more undecided Democrats than Republicans, with the likelihood that the majority will pick Angelides. (See related story, page 70.)
Wei discussed the temporary conversion of Arnold Schwarzenegger to “our labor agenda” and filled in some of the background on the collapse of AB 777, which was the California tax credit bill for motion picture production. During 2006, 18 other states either created or increased film incentive programs. This program, backed by Schwarzenegger, would have allocated as much as $100 million annually over 10 years in refundable tax credits to producers who shoot in California. Unfortunately, competing tax credit packages worth about $400 million (one was for subsidizing jet fuel) led to a bottleneck that proved to be fatal.
The committee work consisted of making recommendations under several headings: reviewing the IA constitution and by-laws, delegating committee assignments and minting a new committee on diversity. There were also meetings of committees on finance, legislature, memorials, organizing, public relations, resolutions, safety and the secretary-treasurer, as well as a special committee, which recommended a site for the next District 2 meeting, in San Diego. The next international convention, by the way, is slated for 2009, in Orlando.
The finance and legislative committees worked together to allocate $20,000 of district funds for electoral campaigns in the four states in District 2; each state would receive $3,000, with the remainder to be allocated at a later date. The public relations committee made a long and enthusiastic list of suggestions, including a focus on making young workers aware of organized labor and proposing an IATSE float in the Pasadena Rose Parade!
 IA President Tom Short at the District 2 convention. Photo by Kim Gottlieb-Walker, www.lenswoman.com |
The resolution committee recommended that health and pension benefits be distributed equally whether given to traditional spouses or partners in a civil union. A resolution on studying the health effects of fatigue was not passed, due to a disagreement on how to carry it out.
IA West Coast Counsel James Varga made a one-hour presentation that touched on several topics. Ostensibly his workshop was to cover shop stewards, but much of the presentation described the ins and outs of the grievance process, including Weingarten Rights (which allow an “advocate” to be present at a disciplinary hearing) and the conditions needed for dismissal under the term “just cause.” He also touched on the then-pending “Kentucky River” Na-tional Labor Relations Board cases, which would redefine who, for the purpose of union membership, can be considered part of management and who, most importantly, can remain in the union. At press time, the case had just been decided and still faced implementation and legal challenge.
The media workshop was run by Sherri Senders, who does media work for the Cinematogra-phers Guild, among others. The organizing workshop was run by IA 12th Vice President and Co-Director of the IA Organizing Department, Dan DiTolla.
All of our attendees agreed that this District 2 was productive, efficiently run and a pleasure to attend.
Jeff Burman represents Sound Editors on the Guild’s Board of Directors. He can be reached at jeffrey.burman@nbcuni.com.
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