Unions.

J

John O'Brien

Sophomore
Mar 2, 2011
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Behind a bush.
www.johnheywarddesigns.com
So my audio career is in it's fledgling state, and I've already been blessed with a ton of opportunities to learn and what not, but I know that the future requires some thought and doing everything I can to learn and put myself where the work is(which I know is so incredibly hard, especially in this industry) and meeting the right people. And beyond that, keeping a solid relationship with those people.

I have a full time job at a local production house in VA, and am very satisfied with it, as it helps with finishing up school and getting me some major experience in the process.. learning the ins and outs of power, vertec systems, 5Ds, 1Ds, working with many tours and events that come through... all that stuff. But it only pays 9 dollars an hour. I know I know, that's cheap in our industry, but it also comes with paying for me finishing up my degree. Which is saving me about $30,000 in loans. So for now, that's quite the trade off. And there's insurance and all that jazz.

But I don't want to stay here forever and I'm looking forward to what the next few years might hold. And doing that brings my mind to labor unions in our field. I know NOTHING of how these work aside from that they give you work. My questions for all you seasoned folk out there that have dealt with them is:

How does one qualify for the union?

Is it worth it?

How does it even work?

Do you have to be good looking to join? (meant as a pun to lighten this up. I sure hope not because I am far from the Fabio type.)

Really, just any general info on this would be great guys. Who knows, I may never have to join a union and some band might scoop me up and we'll be the next largest grossing tour in FOH magazine... oh wait wait. yeah, reality says no. I'll ask the magic 8 ball again one of these days.. :lol:
 
Re: Unions.

Hi John-

"The Union" is the IATSE: International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, its Territories and Canada, AFL-CIO, CLC. The "IA" is The Union Behind Entertainment®. We represent hair, makeup and wardrobe workers; network and local broadcast technicians, camera operators, floor managers, etc; stage hands, riggers, arena & theatre electricians; film laboratories, computer-generated imagery techs; audio-visual technicians; scenic studio, props shop and audio/lighting rental house employees; movie and video crews of all functions... you can get an idea of the scope at www.iatse-intl.org

Every Local has somewhat different membership criteria, and you would need to contact the Secretary-Treasurer of the Local in who's geographic jurisdiction you reside. You don't mention where in Virginia you live; there are 6 "stage" or "mixed" Locals in VA - 55 in Roanoke/Salem/Danville/Lynchburg/Blacksburg/Radford/Staunton (mixed); 87 in Richmond/Petersburg/Charlottesville/Emporia (stage); 264 in Newport News/Hampton/Williamsburg (mixed); 285 in Norfolk/Chesapeake/Portsmouth/Virginia Beach (stage); 591 in Winchester VA/Hagerstown MD/Frederick MD/Waynesboro PA/Martinsburg WV (mixed); and 699 in Bristol VA/Johnson City & Kingsport TN (mixed). Also 487, which covers the Mid-Atlantic region for studio mechanics and broadcast technicians. You can get contact information from the International's website.

Typically, you need to have resided in the Local's geo jurisdiction for at least a year, be proposed for membership by a member or officer in a regular meeting; be interviewed by a committee and voted by the members of that Local. The Local may have additional requirements. There will be initiation fee to the Local (amount varies with Local), an Application Processing Fee for the International (currently $100, non-refundable), plus your quarterly dues and any fees or assessments on the wages you earn.

Once you're in, you can transfer your membership if you move. Also your Local will issue a "traveling card" if you accept a job with a touring theatrical production operating under a "Pink Contract" or "Modified Pink Contract." A partial list of Pink Contract/Yellow Card (don't worry about Yellow Card, it's administrative) shows is on the International's site.

One of the benefits of IATSE membership is having a uniform pension and benefits contribution system. No matter who you work for, employers can make benefit payments to a central office. The benefit plans are separate legal trusts and are not directly controlled by the International.

I think it's worth it, or I wouldn't have joined 13 years ago... and fortunately one does not need to be "camera pretty" to join (or I'd not be a member).

Feel free to contact me off-forum if you have questions of a personal or employment nature.

In Union,

Tim McCulloch, Secretary-Treasurer
IATSE Local 190
Wichita/Hutchinson/El Dorado Kansas
 
Re: Unions.

In general you can call the relevant local(s), talk to the business manager, and get yourself on the "extra" list fairly easily. This would get you called to be a box-pusher on whatever huge shows roll through needing a zillion hands. If you do OK with that, and are a decent person to work with, then there's a good chance you'll get more and better calls and can eventually join. That's how it works for most people.
 
Re: Unions.

To elaborate on what Tim said, joining the IA is a good career move, in my opinion. You'll see a lot of comments here and on the LAB from people who have all kinds of problems working with the IA. However, most of those problems are solved with adequate communication before and during the load-in and show process.

You haven't really said what part of the industry you want to work in. The IA doesn't have much of a foothold in the touring rock and roll market, but rather tends to be theatre and film centric, they also represent the people working on shows like Sesame Street Live, Disney on Ice, etc...

You will have to be careful once you join about the kind of work that you take. If you take unrepresented work, that can get you in trouble (depending on the strength of the local you are in, and whether or not you are in a right to work state). Also, though there is a push on nationally to organize production companies and shops, there's still not many outside of NYC, Chicago or LA that are unionized, so that may stir up some trouble with your current employer.

Every local has a casual labor list, the so called Call List. Get on that, work some calls in as many different venues or production environments as you can and meet the people in the local and see if you think it will be a good match for you. Any which way about it, I can virtually guarantee that you'll be making more than $9 per hour working on the IA list.
 
Re: Unions.

This may not be relevant to the current conversation but perhaps helpful to future readers . . .

Another path to IATSE membership is the "ACT" card. This stands for "Associated Crafts and Technicians" and this is the type of card that I hold. Basically, an ACT card means that I can work under a pink contract. This is the type of contract associated with touring Broadway shows but a high number of FOH mix positions ON Broadway are also pink contracts. This means the mixerperson does not need to be a member of Local One (NY stagehands) in order to take the gig. It also means I have virtually no incentive to take the time and financial hit that would be required to fulfill Local One's admission requirement of working 3 years and earning at least $36,000 under their jurisdiction.

As an ACT member I do not belong to any local. I am affiliated with the International office and offered the same protection and collective bargaining. My yearly costs are higher than most locals but I don't pay a percentage of my earnings to a local so that balances out. The catch is, you can't just go in and pay your yearly stamps and get a card. You have to have a contract offer (meaning somebody already has to want to hire you) before you can be considered for ACT membership.
 
Re: Unions.

No. But I don't really pay too much attention. I wonder what they would do with us. Automatically grandfather us into our local? That would be really expensive for me.

If push came to shove I could probably weasel my way into Local One somehow. And if not, it's not exactly like it's impossible to get a card from one of the card factories *ahem Lake Charles *ahem.
 
Re: Unions.

Jake Scudder said:
No. But I don't really pay too much attention. I wonder what they would do with us. Automatically grandfather us into our local? That would be really expensive for me.

If push came to shove I could probably weasel my way into Local One somehow. And if not, it's not exactly like it's impossible to get a card from one of the card factories *ahem Lake Charles *ahem.
Click to expand...

260? Swamp critters... ;)
 
Ah. Thanks for all the tips here guys! I mainly run in FOH and monitor world for rock/folk/well frankly, whatever will have me kind of music. I'd love to one day get in to mixing theater shows, but I know a lot of that is mixing how the producer wants it and building snapshots galore.

Are any of you guys able to share any negative or positive experiences in regards to union work? I know some guys who absolutely hate having to work alongside union guys, but I refuse to buy in to everyone being like that. Sometimes, instead of standing there and commenting on how stupid someone is in their approach to work, a little pep talk and encouragement can a long way. Then of course there are the stubborn ones. I digress.

I would love to get on the road for a few years and then move to some more local/regional work afterwards, as I will soon be married.
 
Re: Unions.

Well there are different sides of working as a IATSE stagehand. There is the "local guy" route which is working calls that your local has jurisdiction over. Getting on the casual hire list, as mentioned, is probably the best step toward doing this. It can lead to steady employment, depending on your market. It can even lead to full-time employment if you become one of the department heads in a local venue. Tim and Justice are much more qualified to speak about this.

The other side is to work on a union touring production as part of the road crew. You can make a decent living doing this, although with modified contracts the average wage has probably dropped over the last few years. That said, there are very few non-union theatrical touring jobs these days so the union is technically getting more jobs. There is no one path to this. For me it was 3 years and 9 months from the time I mixed my first theatrical production to the time I mixed a Broadway 1st National tour on a full Pink Contract. That's probably fast but I happened to catch a few very lucky breaks along the way and then had the chops to back up those opportunities. If you have specific questions I'll be happy to answer them but there really are so many different paths into touring that it would be foolish to try and lay out an outline.

The one thing I will say, regardless of what you decide to do, is make sure you are the type of person that people WANT to work with. Everybody has bad days. Everyone makes mistakes. These are much easier to survive when people want you around in the first place. Being on time and being competent are expected. I'm speaking more towards being personable and knowing how to communicate with people. When you are able to make people comfortable and deliver excellent results you will have more work than you know what to do with.
 
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