IATSE-2nd2018_web

The crew of The Biggest Loser fully exemplified the driving
spirit behind IATSE’s 125 years, demonstrating what can be accomplished
when a crew of skilled technicians and artisans stand
together for what they believe in, and stay together in the face
of job loss, replacement workers and a recalcitrant employer.
For the first time in eleven cycles, this crew was working under
a union agreement with comprehensive health and pension benefits.
This hard-won win set the table for a wave of organizing
in this genre, and not just for network television — basic cable
and new media productions are now under Agreement, as well.
Also, large reality production companies such as EndemolShine
and Fremantle have low-budget reality term agreements for their
non-scripted content, and seven Viacom channels have agreed
to produce all their competition non-scripted series through
Cranetown, a company under contract.
FREEMAN AUDIO-VISUAL SOLUTIONS
The IATSE Tradeshow & Display Department’s jurisdiction
has been a prime organizing focus for many years. In 2012, the
IA achieved an important breakthrough with the first national
agreement with Freeman Audio Visual Solutions.
Freeman is one of the largest providers of audio-visual, production,
and event technology and had long operated on a nonunion
basis. But discussions between IATSE and Freeman were
productive, focusing on fourteen cities where Freeman engaged
in “one-off” agreements.
After months of bargaining, both parties agreed to a contract
covering a comprehensive list of job classifications. It established
an exclusive hiring hall, while providing Freeman the ability to
use freelance leads and full-time employees in markets where the
supply of trained union craftspeople was insufficient to meet the
demand. Freeman also agreed to contribute to the International
Training Trust.
In return, IATSE committed to Freeman that it will train its
members to be the best AV technicians in the industry, a pledge
that is already more than being fulfilled (see ahead).
STUDENT OUTREACH
As the Freeman agreement demonstrated, one of IATSE’s
most powerful organizing tools is its ability to supply the besttrained,
most highly skilled craftspeople in the entertainment
industry. That requires recruiting the next generation of stagehands,
graphic artists, camerapeople, set designers, makeup artists,
carpenters, technicians and the practitioners of every other
craft in the field.
That’s why Alliance leaders established the IATSE Student
Outreach Program in 2013 — to provide a means to communicate
with and recruit university, community college and high
school students who have a desire to work in the industries the
IA represents.
Presentations have been developed aimed at university
technical theater schools and those involved in teaching motion
picture and television production, while others start earlier at
the high school level. This is especially important because very
few students have been exposed to the labor movement’s values,
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