By Cathy Repola
On a brisk, damp Sunday back in March, I was thrilled to join hundreds of you, as well as members from other industry unions and guilds, for a rally in the San Fernando Valley.
It was the very day before our Guild joined the other IATSE Hollywood locals in negotiations for new Local and Basic contracts with producers.
The stakes were high, and no one could have predicted how things would ultimately turn out. An ongoing industry slowdown has affected thousands of industry workers rightly concerned about the impacts of inflation, technological change, and other issues affecting their careers.
But now, all these months later, we have new contracts overwhelmingly ratified by members, which I am confident will improve pay and working conditions for our union members. More than 76% of Local 700 members voted, and of those, 92% voted to ratify the new contract.
I hope you had a chance to attend one of our town halls before the ratification vote, where we were able to delve into the details of the contract, answer questions and address concerns.
Of course, the Basic Agreement is too complex to do justice to its many provisions in this column. And by now, most of the details aren’t news anymore. I will say that what we achieved in both our local negotiations and through the jointly negotiated Basic Agreement was the most comprehensive package I have seen during my tenure. There were improvements made to our Agreements and it was gratifying to achieve a 7% pay increase in scale minimums the first year, followed by 4% and 3.5% in years two and three, with any additional increases on top of those on streaming and Videotape Agreement projects. That should help workers deal with some of the increased costs of living seen over the last few years. We have much work ahead of us to enforce some of the new provisions, and certainly we need ongoing focused attention on artificial intelligence and its impact on our members and our jobs.
I do want to take this opportunity to say thanks — thanks to everyone who made this result possible.
That starts with our sisters, brothers and kin in IATSE and especially our other Hollywood locals. Unionism is, in my opinion, a necessary guardrail in a capitalist society. But it is never easy, precisely because there are so many differing needs and opinions about what a fair and equitable result would be — and all those opinions deserve a fair hearing. As we all know, ensuring that sort of democracy takes time and patience.
But the locals came together, stayed united, and saw this contract through to ratification. Inter-local communication was the best I have seen in more than 30 years of doing this work. My counterparts in the other locals joined me in unprecedented preparation consisting of multiple meetings, subcommittees vetting the proposal, sharing concerns, and debating strategy. We also honed into the topics of most importance to members, and we established transparent communication with them. Surely that helped guide our journey to ratification, and I’m grateful to all the locals for their hard work and cooperation. I also want to thank our Local 700 board of directors for their vital contributions. The board is made up of elected representatives from each job category our Guild serves, and they are “front-line” in terms of making sure our members are heard. Board members have excelled at fielding member concerns, both online and in person.
I also found our board and our negotiating committees to be invaluable partners, with diversified voices looking out for the best interests of the membership always, even more profoundly during the negotiation and ratification process, even as they continued their usual service during events such as the recent IATSE District 2 meeting in Lake Tahoe.
Above all, I want to thank you, our members.
These are not easy times for our industry. The work slowdown continues to make life difficult for workers, and rapid technological shifts and studio business challenges remain storm clouds on the horizon.
But our members are renowned for their stamina, and they came through in too many ways to count. Some of them joined contract action teams that made sure their kin stayed informed and engaged throughout the process. Others volunteered for car paintings and other inter-local fundraising events. Some even donated to our new hardship fund, administered by the Entertainment Community Fund and designed to help members in need.
Many members did their part simply by staying informed about the issues and voting with their conscience.
When most of our 9,000 active members do that, the results are powerful. I am grateful for that, and thankful for all of you.
No, we could not have predicted on the day of the March rally where this journey would take us. But we completed it together, and I am enormously proud to have undertaken it with all of you.
