Downloadable - IA.TSE Local 80

the Caucuses held during an IATSE
Convention. Vice President DePaulo
addressed the Arts and Entertainment
Branch (similar to a Stage Caucus).
Throughout both days, it was apparent
that the issues discussed were
not that different from the challenges
faced by the IATSE. This is not surprising
since we deal with many of
the same employers and are all affected
by the challenges of the world
economy. It does, however, reaffirm
the importance of maintaining close
ties with BECTU and other unions
around the world.
BILL C-38
International Vice President John
M. Lewis and Canadian Office Operations
Manager Krista Hurdon appeared
before the Board to report
on Bill C-38, also known as the Omnibus
Bill, or the “Jobs, Growth and
Long-term Prosperity Act.”
The Canadian Conservative Government
introduced Bill C-38 to implement
its anti-union and anti-worker,
Conservative agenda through
legislative changes to over 70 federal
laws. The government invoked “closure”,
a legislative procedure to limit
debate, undermining democracy.
The range of topics affected by this
legislation included: Canada’s withdrawal
from its commitment to climate
change responsibilities under the Kyoto
Protocol; the Temporary Foreign
Worker Program to permit employers
to pay highly-skilled foreign workers
15% less than the area standards average
wage rate; the Employment Equity
Act to permit federal contractors to effectively
discriminate against various
groups including women, aboriginal
peoples, visible minorities and persons
with disabilities.
Employment Insurance (EI) benefit
changes have a focused effect on
IATSE members. Despite the large
payroll tax employer/employee contribution
surpluses confiscated by the
government to defray its public debt,
benefits have been significantly reduced
for “frequent users”, defined
to include casual and temporary
workers who are required to accept
work completely outside of their established
occupation or risk losing
their employment insurance benefit
entitlement. The final straw is the
federal government income tax cuts
favouring business and the wealthy.
The Canadian Labour Congress is
coordinating and spearheading opposition
to the Bill and, through its
“Black Out / Speak Out” campaign
utilizing the slogan “Silence is not
an option,” solicited interested supporters
to black out their websites on
June 4, 2012. Fully one-third of IATSE
Locals participated in this campaign,
either by website black-out or displaying
the campaign banner across
their sites while maintaining functionality
for their members. Across
Canada, over 13,000 organizations
participated in the campaign including
Greenpeace and the World Wildlife
Fund, in addition to national,
provincial and local unions.
The IATSE participated in force,
emphasizing the anti-democratic,
anti-union linkage exemplifying the
Conservative Government’s disdain
and contempt for the elected parliamentary
representatives of Canada.
Extensive efforts have been made to
solicit the support and political activism
of IATSE members to protect the
hard-fought democratic rights and
economic interests from the vicious
attacks by governments on working
people and their trade unions, at the
Federal, provincial and municipal
level.
President Loeb commented that
political activism is where the IATSE
belongs. This union is dedicated to
represent and protect working people
as a vital leading player in the
Canadian Labour movement.
BILL C-377
International Vice President John
M. Lewis and Canadian Office Operations
Manager Krista Hurdon appeared
before the Board and gave a
report on the status of Bill C-377: An
Act to Amend the Income Tax Act.
This bill is the latest in the Conservative
Government’s attack on organized
labour. The government hides
behind it as a Private Member’s Bill,
yet it is supported by the entire Conservative
Government Caucus.
The Bill is Canada’s equivalent
to the Bush anti-union legislation in
the United States. Its purpose is to
impoverish, monitor and limit the
political activity of trade unions and
weaken them at the bargaining table.
The focus of the Bill is the “income
tax exempt” status of trade
unions. The Bill requires onerous
and detailed financial filings by trade
unions (both local and international),
benefit trust funds and union building
corporations. The Bill further
requires that all financial data be
submitted in a document that is electronically
searchable and capable of
cross-referencing. Under the guise of
“transparency”, the anti-union attack
is clear since the Bill does not apply
to political parties, charities, professional
associations, and/or religious
institutions, which all enjoy the same
tax exempt status as trade unions.
The costs to trade unions and
their benefit funds and building corporations
are inordinate when measured
in terms of personnel and
professional advisor time/expenses
to make the required filings. Labour
organizations have only six months
to comply and risk fines of $1,000
per day and/or loss of tax exempt
status. The cost to the government
and the taxpayer to monitor and enforce
compliance is likely millions
of dollars. Further, the legislation is
not necessary for its avowed purpose
of transparency. Almost 95%
of unionized workers are governed
by provincial labour legislation that
already requires that financial statements
be available to their members.
This anti-union legislation is used
as an employer propaganda tool to
thwart union organizing drives and
strengthen the employer at the bargaining
table.
Finally, there are serious privacy
legislation concerns, since any individual
union member who receives
medical/dental benefits in excess of
$5,000 annually, or makes in excess
of $5,000 in annual retirement contributions,
must be included in the
disclosure.
The IATSE, along with other trade
unions, has focused the trade union
opposition to Bill C-377 by enlisting
email support from all Locals, disclosing
to service and materials suppliers
that their transactions must be
disclosed and reported, and ensuring
that members contact their Members
of Parliament. The key is to generate
the groundswell of public opposition
against this retrograde anti-union
legislation. The involvement of the
IATSE local union membership is vital
to this effort, using the modern
Secretary-Treasurer Shannon Koger and Vice President Jenna Krempel
from Local 764 at the IATSE-PAC Fundraiser selling raffle tickets.
and effective social media methods
designed to assist and encourage
member participation. Vice President
Lewis called on every Canadian
IATSE member to click on the “Stop
Bill C-377” campaign button on the
IATSE website to exercise their political
rights and activism by sending a
letter to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty
and their own Member of Parliament.
Additionally, special recognition
and thanks were given to Director
of Communications Emily Tao, IT
Administrator Jimmy Rainey and Administrative
Assistant Nate Richmond
for their tireless work to set up the
infrastructure for the email lobbying
campaign.
President Loeb commented that
the IATSE was all too familiar with
this Conservative Government’s attack
on organized labour, trade
unions, and consequently, all working
people. He pledged the support
and assistance of the IATSE to these
efforts and placed this campaign on
the home page of the IATSE website
to underscore the prominence of this
effort.
CANADA
International Vice Presidents John
M. Lewis and Damian Petti, CLC Delegate
Kelly Moon, Assistant to the
President Sean McGuire, International
Representatives Barny Haines,
Julia Neville and Peter DaPrato, Canadian
Office Operations Manager
Krista Hurdon and Canadian Counsel
Stephen Wahl reported to the Board
on developments in Canada since
the last Board meeting.
Local 56, Montreal - Stage
The organizing efforts of Local
56 met with success at two municipal
theatres: the 400-seat Pavillon de
l’île, and the Centre Culturel Georges-Vanier
with the support of the IA-
TSE Defense Fund. Overcoming the
intervention of the Canadian Union
of Public Employees, who sought to
assert representation rights though
never-represented stagehands under
its “all employees” collective agreement,
the Québec Labour Board certified
Local 56 for all stagehands employed
by the City of Chateauguay
at the two theatres and, in addition,
all festivals and music venues within
30 Official Bulletin Third Quarter 2012 31