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motion picture and television industry.
Our participation has significantly helped
to introduce members of Congress to the
vast number of workers employed in
various crafts within the industry. Each
year, the IA has demonstrated the work of
its talented members. In 2015 we showcased
IATSE editors, in 2016 cinematographers,
and most recently, in 2017 hair
and makeup artists.
As I reported to Convention delegates
four years ago, we have progressively
broadened the scope of our activism—including
the IATSE’s activism in electoral
politics. Since then, we have continually
encouraged members to contribute their
time and energy to the electoral process.
Voter mobilization efforts, door-knocking,
phone banking and other supportive
operations are critically vital to political
campaigns. We have achieved greater participation
through the Political Department’s
mobilization of IATSE members
willing to staff campaign efforts. The
International has sponsored members
who were enlisted to work with the
AFL-CIO in various states during recent
election cycles. Between 2012 and 2016
the number of members who have come
forward to do so nearly doubled. Numerous
IATSE local unions have similarly
sponsored their members to work on
electoral campaigns. The contributions
of these staffers along with the boots-onthe-ground
efforts of active IATSE volunteers
around the country (running phone
banks and knocking on doors in their
communities) have had a lasting impact.
In the run-up to the 2016 U.S. presidential
election the Political Department’s
staff traveled to key battleground
locations in Philadelphia, Las Vegas, and
Orlando. In Philadelphia, the International
coordinated its efforts with Local
8’s. As a result, the IATSE had a vibrant
and effective team of political activists
on the ground in Philadelphia. In Las
Vegas, Local 720’s successful phone bank
made over 1,100 calls to IATSE members
reminding them to vote and encouraging
support for the IATSE and AFL-CIO
endorsed candidates. In Orlando, a joint
Florida phone bank with Locals 631 and
834 reached over 700 IATSE members. In
all three states, our members were ready
and willing to work with their IATSE
brothers and sisters during the elections.
Although the 2016 U.S. outcomes were
not what we expected or hoped, I believe
the effort of countless IATSE volunteers
made our political program an accomplishment.
There are many lawmakers
now in office who received IATSE
support. Without our political activity, we
may have seen the election of fewer proworker
candidates.
As a separate matter, (as also discussed
elsewhere in this report) for the fifth consecutive
U.S. election cycle (beginning in
2000) production staff responsible for
the presidential and vice-presidential
debates were covered by the terms of an
IATSE collective bargaining agreement.
And the International successfully negotiated
agreements covering campaign
event work on Hilary Clinton’s election
campaign as well as Bernie Sanders’
primary campaign. These agreements
proved to be remarkably beneficial for our
members, generating a multitude of work
hours along the campaign trail. The contracts
afforded our members work at vast
numbers of campaign stops by the candidates
and their respective teams. We will
continue to pursue similar contacts with
U.S. campaign candidates in the future.
Outside of electoral seasons, communication
with our members on political
matters is another critical component
of our political program. The Political
and Legislative Department works with
the Communications Department to
distribute digital messages through the
IATSE website, Twitter, Facebook, and
other social media outlets. Over the past
four years we have deployed an extraordinary
number of correspondences so that
members can be knowledgeable about the
political and legislative landscape. Often
our communications alert members to
call their members of Congress as legislation
affecting our industry arises. To
bolster our political communications, the
Political Department has also endeavored
to establish a local union coordinator in
each IATSE Local in the United States.
Over the past four years, Locals have
become more engaged than ever before
and the number of locals with such a
position has grown. However, I urge the
Delegates to this Convention to explore
this initiative with the Political Department
so we may continue to educate our
members about the issues and candidates
with whom the IATSE should be aligned.
In Canada, the last four years have presented
a range of distinct political realities
for working people. For the first two years
following the IATSE’s 67th Convention,
labour was fighting for its very existence
with a federal Conservative government,
which had become increasingly antagonistic
to the labour movement and the
working men and women we represent.
During this period, the IATSE became a
more engaged and active member of the
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