IATSE_1stQrtr_2018_web

ings with Congressional candidates. If any
Local is interested in hosting a meeting
with their Republican or Democratic
Congressional candidates, please contact
the Political/Legislative Department.
Legislative Issues
The 2017 legislative session was a
tumultuous one for Labor. In addition
to the overall progressive issues up for
debate and the perpetual fight over the
funding of the Federal government, the
IATSE Political/Legislative Department
has been active in advocating for the interest
of the Alliance’s members.
AFL-CIO Trade Task Force
Currently, Dinkel-Smith sits on the
AFL-CIO’s Trade Task Force Committee
designed to coordinate the AFL-CIO
efforts around Labor issues. Primarily she
is tracking the trade regulations surrounding
internet service providers, which
are part of the renegotiation of North
America Free Trade Agreement. The new
Internet Service Provider standards for
the enforcement of copyrighted materials
appear to be favorable. However, the rules
of origin for some of our labor Brothers
and Sisters are still up in the air. Dinkel-
Smith expressed her appreciation for the
anti-right-to-work (for less) proposals
that have come from Canada.
Pension Task Force
Dinkel-Smith also regularly attends
the AFL-CIO pension task force committee
meetings which discuss the current
legislation concerning pension protections
and regulations. There have been
two bills discussed as part of this group.
One bill, the SAVE Up Act proposed by
Congressman Joe Crowley of New York,
would institute a form of public/private
cooperative pension plan for all. The
other piece of legislation stems from a
white paper produced by Senator Sherrod
Brown of Ohio. This legislation would
allow a public loan option for pensions
in trouble. While these are amiable legislative
initiatives, they are highly unlikely
to receive consideration in a committee
during this Congress.
Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act
Dinkel-Smith reported that she and
Director Cahill have been actively lobbying
on behalf of the IATSE’s members
who work in Native-owned casinos as
part of a joint AFL-CIO lobbying team.
The Tribal Labor Sovereignty Act would
exempt all tribal-owned entities from the
National Labor Relations Act, thereby effectively
nullifying all Union contracts
on reservation casinos. The Department
will update the Board on the status of this
legislation as well as other bills impacting
IATSE members including the “Save Local
Businesses Act” the Workplace Action for
a Growing Economy Act and the Employee
Rights Act.
Tax Reform
A major loss for labor in the 2017
session was passage of the Tax Reform bill.
The IATSE acted in concert with AFL-CIO
efforts to push back on this legislation
on Capitol Hill and through grassroots
efforts in targeted districts. Under the new
tax bill, IATSE members will no longer be
able to itemize many expenses, including
union dues, initiation fees, and training
expenses. Overall, this bill will mean a tax
increase for IATSE members.
Projects and Travel
The 2018 mid-term elections will
provide some exciting opportunities for
the Political and Legislative Department
to help Locals increase their political activism.
Working with the Communications
Department, the Department will
be initiating the IATSE SMS program
to reach out to IATSE members via text
message. With an SMS program, informational
texts can be sent to members
living in targeted Congressional districts,
urging them to contact their representatives
and to register to vote.
In addition to the Department’s initiatives,
Assistant Director Dinkel-Smith
will be participating in the AFL-CIO
Digital Political Working Group. The
purpose of this group will be to share
best practices and up-to-date information
about member outreach and election
data analytics. Some of the advanced
member targeting used by other organizations
involve social media, valuesbased
identification, and voter persuasion
metrics.
Next, Dinkel-Smith reported on the
Department’s efforts to expand its outreach
and political profile through interactions
with progressive organizations.
This past year, Dinkel-Smith was invited
to give a presentation about the IATSE
and the importance of Labor women in
politics to the State Executive Directors of
Emerge. Emerge is an organization that
recruits and trains progressive women
to run for elected office. One of their
missions, as directed by Emerge International,
is to reach out and develop relationships
with Labor organizations. Assistant
Director Dinkel-Smith encourages
IATSE female members to connect with
their Emerge state affiliate and contact the
Political and Legislative Department for
more information.
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