Second Quarter 2011 - IATSE Local 8 Philadelphia

CALL TO ORDERIn accordance with Article Seven,Section 3 of the International Constitution,a Special meeting of the GeneralExecutive Board of the InternationalAlliance of Theatrical Stage Employees,Moving Picture Technicians, Artistsand Allied Crafts of the UnitedStates, Its Territories and Canada, AFL-CIO, CLC, convened at 10:30 a.m. onSunday, April 17, 2011 at the IATSEGeneral Office located at 1430 Broadway,New York, New York.ROLL CALLGeneral Secretary-Treasurer JamesB. Wood called the roll and recordedthe following members present:MATTHEW D. LOEB,International PresidentJAMES B. WOOD,General Secretary-TreasurerTIMOTHY F. MAGEE,First Vice PresidentMICHAEL BARNES,Second Vice PresidentJ. WALTER CAHILL,Third Vice PresidentTHOM DAVIS,Fourth Vice PresidentANTHONY DE PAULO,Fifth Vice President andCo-Director of Stage CraftDAMIAN PETTI,Sixth Vice PresidentBRIAN J. LAWLOR,Seventh Vice President andCo-Director of Stage CraftMICHAEL F. MILLER, JR.,Eighth Vice President andDirector of Motion Picture andTelevision ProductionJOHN T. BECKMAN, JR.,Ninth Vice PresidentDANIEL E. DI TOLLA,Tenth Vice President andDirector of OrganizingJOHN R. FORD,Eleventh Vice PresidentJOHN M. LEWIS,Twelfth Vice President andDirector of Canadian AffairsCRAIG P. CARLSON,Thirteenth Vice PresidentIn addition to the members of theBoard, those present included: InternationalPresident Emeritus ThomasC. Short, General Secretary-TreasurerEmeritus Michael W. Proscia, InternationalVice President Emeritus EdwardC. Powell, Assistants to the PresidentDeborah A. Reid and Sean McGuire;Director of the Trade Show and DisplayWork Department William E.Gearns, Jr.; Assistant Director of MotionPicture and Television ProductionDaniel Mahoney; and InternationalRepresentative Patricia A. White.CORRESPONDENCEPresident Loeb read a communicationhe received from Local No.One extending an invitation to theBoard to attend the Local’s membershipmeeting at the conclusion of thisBoard meeting.ANTI-UNION STATE BATTLES/SOLIDARITY ACTIVITIESAssistant to the President DeborahReid appeared before the Boardto present a summary, to date, ofanti-union state battles and variousactivities in which the Internationaland IATSE local unions have beenparticipating in since the 2011 Mid-Winter Board meeting was held inLas Vegas, Nevada.It was reported that sometime afterthe 2010 Mid-Term elections, the AFL-CIO distributed a list of the original12 battleground states under attackwhich included Ohio, Pennsylvania,Michigan, Indiana, Florida, Missouri,New Hampshire, Maine, Minnesota,Iowa, New Jersey and Wisconsin.The attacks, primarily wagedagainst public workers under the guiseof state leaderships attempting to balancetheir state budgets, are in effectno more than attempts to decimate laborunions. Anti-labor legislation hasbeen put forth in various states withRight to Work bills filed in 14 states,anti-prevailing wage bills filed in 22states, among many others.Starting in Wisconsin, attacks onpublic workers surfaced when theGovernor pushed for a budget proposalthat included the eliminationof the collective bargaining process.It soon became evident to workersin both the public and private sectorsthat this was simply an attack on laborunions, and workers across the countrywere getting the message loud andclear.President Loeb directed that aspecial section of the IATSE Website be created where informationand releases concerning these issueswill be posted along with photos ofIA officers and members who havebeen participating in various activitiesthroughout the United States andCanada in a demonstration of supportfor workers’ rights.The AFL-CIO advised its affiliatesthat the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO established a Defense Fund towhich the General Executive Boardhad approved a contribution of$50,000. A list of the 14 DemocraticState Senators and their campaigncommittees was also distributed sothat contributions could be madeto express thanks for their supportof workers by leaving the State toprevent a vote being taken on theproposed budget.The first big day of solidarity ralliesheld across the United States wasFebruary 26, 2011 and the IATSE hadturnouts in Madison, Los Angeles,New York, Rhode Island, Trenton,Philadelphia and many other cities.The rally in Los Angeles was attendedby many IA members and PresidentLoeb, along with other labor and communityleaders, addressed the crowd.The IA was fortunate to have someOscar winners at the Academy Awardsand two of our members – Wally Pfisterof Local 600, and Gary Rizzo ofLocals 52 & 695 made statements tothe press about how grateful they areto their unions and how appalled theyare about these anti-union tactics.Continuing labor’s activitiesaround the country, events continueto be planned and coordinatedand, in early March, President Loeband Vice President Ford traveled toMadison where they presented theInternational’s $50,000 check to thePresident and Secretary-Treasurerof the Wisconsin State Fed, as wellas Local 52’s check in the amountof $10,000. [It was also noted thatIATSE Districts 11 and 12 in Canadamade contributions to the WisconsinState AFL-CIO Defense Fund in theamount of $5,000.00 each.] IATSE Local251 helped to coordinate a marchand rally to the State Capitol with alarge turnout of all IATSE Wisconsinlocals and other area unions includingthe Fire Fighters and Teamsters.President Loeb spoke from thesteps of the Capitol. Another hugerally was held later in March afterWisconsin’s State Senate voted toapprove the Governor’s proposedbudget. Hundreds of thousands ofworkers in the State turned out toprotest the action and IA Locals 476and 600 provided a crew to shoot avideo for the Wisconsin Fed whichwas later posted on the Federation’sWeb site.The date of April 4th was thekickoff for another week of activitieswhere public and private sectorworkers continue to come togetherin what is known as “WE ARE ONE.”In New York City, the rally was heldon Saturday, April 9th from 42ndStreet, down 7th Avenue and the IAhad a great turnout with Internationaland Local officers and members inattendance from all over the tri-statearea and as far as Philadelphia.President Loeb continues to distributeinformation to our Localsthrough the District Secretaries andwith postings on the IATSE Web site.The IA locals and their members continueto send in pictures from all overthe United States and Canada and theWeb site’s photo gallery continues togrow.AFL-CIOPresident Loeb reported to theBoard that at the AFL-CIO ExecutiveCouncil meeting held in Washington,D.C., on April 11-12, 2011, the Councildiscussed a number of ways in whichlabor may come together to combatthe anti-labor battles being waged inseveral states.President Loeb stated that theIATSE will continue to put forth everyeffort to participate in the various effortsthroughout the United States tocombat these battles.CANADIAN HEALTH PLANInternational Vice President JohnLewis provided the Board with an updateregarding the coordination betweenthe International and CanadianLocals concerning the creation of aCanadian National Health Plan. Hestated that the delivery of health benefitsvaries from local to local. One ofthe goals of a national plan is to lowercosts while providing the same orbetter health coverage to participants.This process has involved a great dealof work by the ad-hoc health planworking committee in a relativelyshort period of time including a detailedreview of existing health coverageprovided by each local in orderto ensure that participants wouldnot suffer a loss in coverage with theadoption of a national plan. In Marchof 2010, the International workedwith consultants to identify cost savingsstrategies for both claims andnon-claims costs. This was discussedat the 2010 Off-Year Convention ofDistricts 11 and 12. Subsequently, inSeptember 2010, all but one of the Canadianlocal unions approved a motionto formally pursue the adoptionof a National Health Plan. In Januaryof 2011, the International and representativesfrom the working committeenarrowed the search for an insurerdown to four (4) companies. VicePresident Lewis reported that on April26 and 27, 2011, the committee, localsand trust fund representatives wouldmeet with the companies and woulddetermine which proposal to accept.President Loeb remarked that coordinationof health benefits in orderto lower costs to locals and providewide-ranging coverage are the drivingforces behind this effort. This CanadianNational Plan will result in lower6 O official Bulletin Second Quarter 2011 7