IATSE-2nd2018_web

opportunities in legitimate theatre, trade and convention work,
the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games and the shops and rental
houses that service the motion picture and theatrical industries.”
TOURING BROADWAY-STYLE
THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS
Large-scale musicals and other Broadway-style productions
have been touring the U.S. and Canada with increasing frequency.
In 2009, IATSE achieved an organizing breakthrough with NETworks,
LLC, gaining Alliance representation for the backstage
workers traveling with what had been non-union touring productions.
The agreement extended to the NETworks’ productions of
Sweeney Todd, The Drowsy Chaperone, Hairspray, The Wizard of
Oz, and Annie for the 2009-2010 season, with seven productions
for the following season. NETworks had been the most active nonunion
company for touring legitimate theater productions, but for
the last nine years and counting, their workers have been empowered
with collective bargaining and part of the IATSE family.
BIGGEST LOSER BECOMES BIG WINNER
Nowadays, reality television features heavily in the nightly
lineups of traditional broadcast and cable networks alike. Ensuring
that the crews of these productions are covered by IATSE collective
bargaining agreements was a lengthy struggle.
Things came to a head on November 8, 2010, when the production
crew of The Biggest Loser voted to strike their employer
to obtain recognition and a contract. Members, officers and representatives
of IATSE’s West Coast Studio Locals, along with representatives
and staff of the IA West Coast office joined the production
crew on the picket lines daily for the two-week duration
of the strike. The Los Angeles County and California State Labor
Federations both sanctioned the strike and provided support,
as did other entertainment industry unions, including AFTRA,
SAG, DGA, WGA and Teamsters Local 399.
On November 19, 2010, President Loeb traveled to Los Angeles
to join the striking workers on the picket lines. That same
morning, the IA and employer met in a marathon negotiating
session that lasted until early morning the following day. A tentative
four-year agreement based upon the Videotape Supplemental
Basic Agreement (Green Book) and modified to address specific
production issues unique to The Biggest Loser, was finally reached.
The crew ratified the agreement unanimously. Approximately seventy
production and post-production technicians were covered.
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