IATSE-2nd2018_web

Since its inception, the Stagecraft Department has sought to
organize many different areas of production. Low-budget touring
attractions were organized under modified Traveling Pink
Contracts. Television specials and award shows were organized,
as noted previously. Scenic shops were organized with the goal
of establishing a national contract. LORT theatres and amphitheaters
were also organizing targets, as were conventions and
industrial shows.
The Stagecraft Department is continually involved with negotiations,
especially with IATSE’s growing emphasis on national
contracts.
MOTION PICTURE AND TELEVISION
PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT
The Motion Picture and Television Production Department
consists of Production Locals throughout the Alliance.
The Department aims to negotiate term contracts where possible,
thus securing consistent terms and conditions and binding
employers for all of their projects. These include the Area
Standards Agreement, the IATSE/Producer Basic Agreement,
the New York Production Agreement, the West Coast Commercial
Agreement, and the AICP National Agreement. Hundreds
of employers sign these agreements, bringing IATSE crews into
their productions.
The Department’s initial organizing efforts were concentrated
on cable production, low budget feature film production,
award shows, special event shows, movies-of-the-week, episodic
television production, reality television shows, and music videos.
The number of low-budget companies that seek out the IATSE
has been continually on the rise over the past several decades.
This trend is expected to continue due to the quality of IATSE
crews and the elimination of a non-union workforce through
organizing.
In addition to negotiating contracts and organizing, the Department
processes grievances and manages deposits. Grievances
with merit are vigorously pursued according to each contract’s
terms. Deposits protect members in the event of a company’s
financial collapse or malfeasance. The deposit amount is not returned
until all wages, benefits, and outstanding grievances have
been resolved.
ORGANIZING DEPARTMENT
From its inception, this Department was focused on the
goal of organizing one hundred percent of each workplace,
rather than merely concentrating on smaller craft groups. This
gives all employees greater bargaining strength through union
density.
Early efforts focused on stagecraft, projectionists, front of the
house staff, sports broadcasting and mobile video trucking companies,
with a special emphasis on freelance workers.
TRADESHOW & DISPLAY DEPARTMENT
The Tradeshow jurisdiction has been critical to IATSE’s
growth, due to the dramatic expansion of the industry. The Department’s
work in this area has been especially critical due to
the interest of other trade unions, despite the work’s traditional
home in the Alliance.
Locals benefitting from the tradeshow boom have included
those in Orlando, Atlanta, New York and Indianapolis. At the
core of the Tradeshow Department is IATSE Local 835, the largest
Local dedicated to tradeshow work.
The Department’s early accomplishments included negotiations
in many cities in the West with GES, a large national tradeshow
company. In Atlanta, Local 834 successfully negotiated an
agreement with the “Big Four” tradeshow contractors. Local 720,
Las Vegas, experienced very significant increases in tradeshow
work due to aggressive organizing, negotiating agreements with
GES and Freeman. Other companies that signed pacts with the
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