by Kathy Repolla
On a cool, humid Sunday in March, I had the pleasure of attending a rally in the San Fernando Valley with hundreds of people and members of other industry unions and guilds.
This comes just one day before our association joins other IATSE Hollywood locals in negotiating new local and base contracts with producers.
The stakes are high and no one can predict how things will ultimately turn out. The ongoing industry slowdown affects thousands of industry workers, who are rightly concerned about the impact of inflation, technological change and other issues affecting their careers.
But now, months later, our new contract has been approved by an overwhelming majority of our membership and I believe it will improve pay and working conditions for our union members. More than 76 percent of Local 700 members voted, with 92 percent voting to approve the new contract.
I hope you have the opportunity to attend our town hall prior to the ratification vote, where we can delve into the details of the contract, answer questions, and address concerns.
Of course, the Basic Agreement is too complex to fully reflect many of the provisions in this column. Now, most of the details are no longer news. I would say that what we achieved in the local negotiations and the co-negotiation of the Basic Agreement is the most comprehensive package I have seen in my tenure. We made improvements to the agreement and were pleased to achieve a minimum scale salary increase of 7% in the first year, followed by 4% and 3.5% increases in the second and third years respectively, in addition to streaming and video tapes. Any additional growth agreement items. This should help workers cope with the increase in the cost of living that has occurred over the past few years. We still have a lot of work to do to implement some of the new regulations, and of course we need to continue to focus on artificial intelligence and its impact on our members and our work.
I do want to take this opportunity to say thank you – to everyone who made this outcome possible.
It starts with our IATSE sisters, brothers and relatives, especially our other Hollywood natives. In my view, trade unionism is a necessary guardrail for capitalist society. But it’s never easy because there are so many different needs and opinions about what a fair and just outcome is, and all of them deserve a fair hearing. As we all know, ensuring this democracy takes time and patience.
But locals came together to stay united and see the contract ratified. Local communication is the best I have seen in over 30 years of doing this work. Other local peers joined me in unprecedented preparations, including multiple meetings, subcommittees reviewing proposals, sharing concerns and debating strategies. We also delved into the topics that matter most to our members and established transparent communications with them. This, of course, helped guide our journey to approval and I thank all the locals for their hard work and cooperation. I would also like to thank the Local 700 Board of Directors for their important contributions. The Board of Directors is made up of elected representatives from every job category our Guild serves, and they are on the “front lines” in ensuring our members are heard. Board members are skilled at resolving member concerns online and in person.
I have also found our Board of Directors and Bargaining Committee to be invaluable partners who have diverse voices and are always more deeply focused on the best interests of the membership during the negotiation and approval process, even when they are in situations such as the recent IATSE in Lake Tahoe. District 2 Meeting.
Most importantly, I want to thank our members.
These are not easy times for our industry. The work slowdown continues to make life difficult for workers, and rapid technological change and studio business challenges still loom on the horizon.
But our members are known for their endurance, and they have succeeded in many ways. Some of them have joined contract action teams to ensure their relatives are kept informed and involved throughout the process. Others volunteered at car painting and other inter-local fundraisers. Some have even donated to our new hardship fund, which is run by the Entertainment Community Fund to help members in need.
Many members are doing their part simply by staying informed about issues and voting their conscience.
When the majority of our 9,000 active members do this, the results will be huge. I’m grateful for that and thank you all.
No, we couldn’t predict where this journey would take us on the day of the March rally. But we did it together, and I’m very proud to have done it with all of you.
