An IA crew was recently locked out of a production called The Sisters
shooting in Eugene, Oregon. A replacement crew was contracted and traveled
while "negotiations" were happening,

I was called on 30 April by someone who wanted to send me from L.A. to
Oregon on about 2 days notice to shoot a feature- I don't know if this
is the same matter.

I have wanted to join AI for some time and am working towards that
goal. However, it becomes dispiriting to have my questions and
inquiries ignored by the organization until the day I show up to join
and have half my paperwork rejected.

I am foursquare in favor of collective bargaining; but the treatment
of the union organizations to it's prospective members leaves a lot to
be desire, sometimes. Especially in today's Hollywood.
Another point, why doesn't SAG join AFTRA before they are crushed
completely?

SNIP

I am foursquare in favor of collective bargaining; but the treatment
of the union organizations to it's prospective members leaves a lot to
be desire, sometimes. Especially in today's Hollywood.
Another point, why doesn't SAG join AFTRA before they are crushed
completely?

Peter,

Thaks for the information.

I did contact Contract Services and sent them my resume early on.
Live response is vague and no one returns phone messages.

I'm saying this largely as a point of business etiquette- If you want
something from someone, tell them clearly what you expect (What
paperwork is expected, what is considered a paid working day, ect.),
and return your phone calls.

What I know about gaining IA membership is mostly word of mouth. This
is IATSE, not the Masons.

How about this- is there an apprectice program for the Sound Dept or
does the Roster Program substitute for that?

An IA crew was recently locked out of a production called The Sisters
shooting in Eugene, Oregon. A replacement crew was contracted and
traveled
while "negotiations" were happening, Anyone who might know of the sound
department personnel working the last few days of this show, please
contact
me off-list. The IA editor, Drake Sillimann, crossed the line as did the
IA
script supervisor. Their locals have been contacted. The DP was a
Mexican
national working illegally in the US on a travel visa. INS has been
notified. The stage, owned by the producers, Chambers Media, has numerous
safety violations that have been called into OSHA and the Eugene fire
marshal. As well, and with the support of our fabulous actors including
Maria Bello, Mary Stuart Masterson, Erica Christensen, Rip Torn, Eric
McCormick and the rest, it is unlikely that production will be able to
complete the picture and will lose a considerable amount of their
investment, essentially "cutting off their nose to spite their face" in
order to single out IATSE for a lockout. DGA and SAG, of course, obtained
contracts.

It is my advise that anyone on this list who is ever ask to work on a
project at Chambers Media Center, or by producer (and wicked witch of the
Northwest) Carolyn Chambers, run (don't walk) away. No good will ever
come
of association with this group.

As I said above, I would be very interested in the names of any sound
people
working on this movie. They crossed a picket line of displaced legitimate
worker who only wanted the proper health and welfare benefits (no wages
were
ever discussed in the negotiations. Only that a fair benefit package be
provided) in blacked out vans to take food out of my children's mouths for
the sake of an egotistic and greedy producer who fears that organized
labor
will keep her from getting richer than she already is.

Regards,

Douglas Tourtelot, CAS
Seattle, WA
tourtelot@speakeasy.net

PS, I had to call the police department while on the picket line to escort
me to retrieve my sound package from behind locked gates manned by a
goon-squad of security people. The company intended that the scab mixer
would use my equipment to complete the show! All but one Comtek was
recovered without incident with the help of the Eugene Police Department
and
Sgt. Flynn. BTW, officer Flynn rocks!

signatory company, but those companies aren't allowed to hire you unless
you have roster status, a Catch-22.

Generally you are required to have 30 days of employment with a
signatory company, but those companies aren't allowed to hire you unless
you have roster status, a Catch-22.

Every citizen of the US has the right to a job. The NLRB and the
Supreme Court of the US has ruled that any clause in a union contract
requiring union membership as a prerequisite for employment is
illegal. Any signatory company must abide by the terms of the contract
they signed but you DO NOT have to be a union member to work under
that contract. Usually these rules are used by people not wanting to
be in a union but wanting the work. But I see no reason you can't use
the rules to get on to any job where the producer wants you and then
using that time in to justify membership. Unless of course the union
blocks a perfectly good contributor from becoming a good member.
I think there is just as much bad coming from unions as there is
coming from employers. How many iatse members are there out there who
work under the basic agreement but don't qualify for the hospital
benifits? Those workers earn hospital money but are not allowed to
collect on that money they earned. The union confiscates that money
and puts it into the general hospital fund to lower the premiums for
every body else. The everybody else that is working enough to qualify.
So the rich(steady workers)are getting richer off the backs of the
poor. Very brotherly! The iatse refuses to fix this. They have the
alternative of going to the FlexPlan but instead they are forcing
locals who have the FlexPlan to switch to the Hollywood agreement. No
allowance for the people at the bottom rungs of the ladder that aren't
fortunate enough to work steady. I thought the basic premise of the
unions was to look out for the little guy. Doesn't seem apperent at
the new glossy 600 HQ built in Hollywood.
Sorry, my pet peave...

I guess you didn't read my post.

You DON'T need to be a member to work. You need to show appropriate
industry experience, as demonstrated by placement on the industry
experience roster. This roster is NOT set up, maintained, or operated by
the unions. It is run by Contract Services Administration Trust Fund, an
independent organization administrated by trustees from both unions and
producers. The National Labor Relations Act says that everyone is
entitled to access to work IF they have bona fide occupational
qualifications. Industry experience fits that description. And the Act
allows states to determine whether workers enjoying collective
bargaining agreements have an obligation to pay for the cost of
administering those agreements. Most states require an individual to
either join the union or otherwise pay the costs of the administering of
the agreement after 30 days of free ride. In the "right to work" states,
individuals never have to join unions or pay the costs of representation
or bargaining. They can freeload indefinitely. In right-to-work states,
the percentage of people covered by health insurance is dramatically
lower than in the others. And, the income is significantly less.

As to the Flex Plan, to the best of my knowledge it has NO relationship
to the Hollywood Basic Agreement. It has been an alternative for locals
who participate in the IA National Plan, which is unrelated to the
MPIHP, the plan set up for the Hollywood locals. Anyone capable of being
covered under the MPIHP will greatly prefer to do so as this plan is not
only totally paid for by the employers, but is also HEAVILY subsidized
by residuals paid on distribution fees (just as actors and musicians get
their share of the back end.)

You may have a legitimate 'peeve' about the number of days needed to
qualify for health insurance under the MPIHP, but in what seems to be a
swirl of ignorance about the way this all works, I suspect you are just
suffering a misunderstanding.
Peter


No misunderstanding about the requirement for days to qualify for

No misunderstanding about the requirement for days to qualify for
health plan. As you pointed out "anyone capable of being covered will
prefer to do so". Capable is the operative word there. What if my
nurse or teacher wife has an even better health plan? I should be
allowed to opt out and use the money for something else. I earned it.
The flexplan allows for that. The pension plan is set at around 6%
contribution tax defered. I can shelter 25% tax defered. You can't do
both so if I were to work under contract I could ONLY shelter 6%.
Thank you for clarifying the Contract Services Admin. deal. I would
still question some agency having the right to determine who can work
and who can't. It seems to me that should be the job of the producer.
If the producer hires his brother to be a mixer or DP and that person
mucks it up that's the producers fault. Way too many people trying to
tell other people how to run their lives.
Back to the topic of the Oregon producer. Did that producer try to
change the terms of the deal before production began, did the crew try
to change the terms of the deal before production began or was there
no agreement before production began?