Historical Background

Since the birth of our organization, the stage hands and movie operators have been joined by a great variety of other crafts persons in the numerous branches of the entertainment industry; including motion picture and television production, product demonstration and industrial shows, conventions, facility maintenance, casinos, audio visual, and computer graphics, to name a few, all banding together to achieve the maximum of unified strength.

In 1893, show business was confined almost entirely to the stage. During the next twenty years, the stage carpenters, property men and electricians pioneered a drive for union recognition in the theatre - and finally established their craft as one of the highest paid and most respected in America. The first Canadian local was admitted in 1898 and we were redesignated as an international union. Beginning in 1908, soon after the birth of the film industry, projectionists throughout the continent were brought into the I.A. fold. Again a battle for recognition was fought and won. Later, in the 20's, union benefits were extended to Hollywood studios and the vast network of film exchanges throughout the United States and Canada. And finally, as soon as commercial television got a start, the I.A. took its natural place in this newest field of visual entertainment.

Today, in legitimate theatres, concert halls, art and cultural centers, auditoriums, arenas and other similar facilities, as well as on industrial and other types of shows that travel from one city to another, I.A. members play an essential role, serving backstage as lighting technicians, carpenters, special effects technicians, riggers, prop handlers, audio visual technicians, wardrobe personnel, make-up artists and hairstylists, and in the front of the house as ushers, ticket-takers, doormen and maintenance employees.

I.A. members are also integral to the production, distribution and exhibition of film and video. Among the classifications of workers we represent in this field are art directors, story analysts, animators, set designers and set decorators, scenic artists, graphic artists, set painters, grips, electricians, property persons, set builders, teachers, costumers, make up artists, hair stylists, motion picture and still camerapersons, sound technicians, editors, script supervisors, laboratory technicians, projectionists, utility workers, first aid employees, inspection, shipping, booking and other distribution employees.

In television, the combined crafts of stage and screen are utilized. Carpenters, electricians, property men, and other crafts persons who had begun their careers in the theatre or film production applied their skills to the new medium and helped the I.A. extend its jurisdiction. In addition to the traditional crafts, masters of numerous additional techniques are needed to bring live, taped and filmed programs to the public. Thus the traditional stage hands, projectionists, sound service engineers and recording engineers are now supplemented by I.A. video engineers, audio engineers, transmitter engineers, videographers, maintenance engineers and a host of other television technicians.

Today there are more than 500 local unions affiliated with the I.A. throughout the United States and Canada. The local unions are the backbone of the I.A. They are the direct representatives of the membership in all relations with employers. Initially, locals were chartered to represent workers in individual crafts or specific areas of the industry. However, a trend toward combination began years ago with the chartering of mixed locals (Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators) in the smaller cities. More recently we have created Television Broadcasting Studio Employee locals. These locals offer the advantage of combining all the crafts required for the operation of a television station within a single local union. Similarly, as motion picture and television production has become increasingly mobile, we have established studio mechanics locals throughout North America. Our goal has been to create a structure capable of representing all the workers in our crafts wherever and whenever they're employed.

In the I.A. we have always understood that our bargaining strength comes from our complete coverage of all the crafts involved in the production of theatrical, motion picture or television products. Our members are involved in every phase of a production, from its conception through every aspect of its execution, we're on the job. That principle of complete coverage and unanimity of purpose has been applied by the I.A. with ever-increasing success to each new form of the entertainment industry. First it was the stage, then motion picture production and more recently, television. As these different areas of the industry expand and develop, we will continue to assert our jurisdiction. This principle has been essential to our past success and will help ensure our future growth. In union there is strength, and when every branch of an industry is united, that strength becomes invincible.

It is through our combined strength that we have been able to achieve some of the highest wages and best working conditions to be found among skilled crafts persons anywhere. It is an established fact that union members enjoy wages that are significantly higher than those of non-union workers. The contracts that have been negotiated by the I.A. and its local unions contain wages, benefits, and working conditions that surpass that standard. Our members are among the highest compensated union members in North America. While most contracts are negotiated locally or by region, the General Office signs nationwide agreements in cases where they are warranted by the nature of the work involved. Originally these agreements were executed to cover stage hands on the road with traveling attractions, sound service engineers who cover regional areas servicing project booth equipment, film exchange employees, and specialized TV functions including live shows that move from station to station. In the 1980's the International negotiated the National Industrial Contract with employers engaged in industrial and product demonstration shows. The industrial contract was the first example of an agreement negotiated by the General Office that set conditions for local unions. In recent years our local unions have recognized that regional and national negotiations provide them with far greater bargaining strength. As a result, during recent Conventions, the delegates have empowered the International to bargain nationally with employers involved in motion picture production, amphitheatres, arenas and stadiums.

In order to protect and expand our bargaining success, it has been, and continues to be necessary to maintain jurisdictional control over the crafts we represent. To do so, the I.A. has been constantly required to meet the challenges presented by technological developments. Over the years, our ability to adjust to technological change has become one of our greatest strengths. Continuing in that tradition, the I.A. has been in the forefront of efforts to organize workers in new crafts such as computer generated imaging. Simultaneously, we have continued in our commitment to represent other workers whose jobs have been revolutionized by the introduction of computer technology by providing them with the education and training necessary for them to compete in the changing workplace.

Throughout our history we have shown a willingness to modify our structure to protect our traditional jurisdiction and accomodate new crafts. But that alone is not sufficient. In recent years, the I.A. has maintained its position in the vanguard of entertainment industry unions by vigorously pursuing a policy of organizing non-union workers. On both the International and local levels of our organization, we have reaffirmed our commitment to represent every worker employed in our crafts. Recently we have become more aggressive than ever in our pursuit of organizing non-union workers. This effort has brought thousands of technicians into the I.A. and has provided them with vastly improved wages, benefits and working conditions.

As the industry changes, the I.A. will continue to employ innovative tactics to ensure that our current membership enjoys the greatest number of employment opportunities while at the same time making membership accessible to all entertainment industry workers regardless of craft or location. Thus far these efforts have proven to be tremendously successful as more than ten thousand new members have joined our ranks during the 1990's.

Government

Membership participation and democracy are cornerstones of the I.A. These principles are advanced by the local union structure of the I.A. Our local unions are autonomous organizations. They are free to pursue independent agendas based upon their membership's concerns. The local union structure, backed up by the International, enables members to have a direct voice in their working lives. We attribute a large measure of the collective bargaining success of the I.A. to the actions of the local unions. The membership is the driving force behind the effort to obtain the kind of wages, benefits and working conditions they need for themselves and their families. The local unions are the vehicles that have enabled these goals to be reached, and in many instances, surpassed.

The laws of the I.A. are contained in the International Constitution and By-Laws. This document contains the guidelines that govern the operation of the International Union and its relationship to the individual local unions and members. The local unions, in turn, adopt their own Constitutions for the operation of their organizations.

The supreme governing body of the I.A.T.S.E. is the Triennial Convention. This is an assembly of delegates from all the locals and from the various departments. Every three years convention delegates review the progress of the organization; its policies are affirmed or altered; plans for the future are formulated; and its Constitution and By-Laws are kept up to date. Elections for International Officers also take place at the Convention.

Between Conventions, the I.A. government is entrusted to its General Executive Board - consisting of the International President, General Secretary-Treasurer, and eleven Vice Presidents. The Board meets at least twice each year.

Day-to-day administration of I.A.T.S.E. affairs is in the hands of the International President, whose staff includes Assistants to the President and a corps of International Representatives working throughout the United States and Canada.

Three International Trustees are elected to keep watch over the finances of the I.A. The Board of Trustees meets twice a year to review the financial books and records of the organization.

In order to best address regional issues confronting the Locals of the I.A., the International established fourteen District bodies covering various regions of the U.S. and Canada. These Districts hold annual conventions to discuss their regional interests and concerns. In addition, each Triennial Convention of the International is immediately preceded by conventions of the districts.

The I.A. takes an active interest in the well being of its membership and their families that extends beyond the confines of the work place. In order to advance their interests, the I.A. offers a full range of services in addition to those of collective bargaining and other work related representation.

To satisfy our memberships' needs for a secure retirement income, health insurance and vacation pay, the I.A. has established several funds which are administered by the International. In this way individual local unions can negotiate contributions from their employers to these funds in order to provide the benefits their members need but which they may not be able to provide on a local level.

In order to provide retirement income, the I.A. maintains three separate funds: Pension Plans A and B and the National Annuity Fund. Pension Plan A provides benefits to workers in the film exchange locals and Plan B applies to all other local unions. Recently, the Trustees of the funds instituted a Combined Pension Plan in order to accommodate individuals who have had contributions made on their behalf to both plans. Since many of our members are freelance workers, the pension plans may not always be the best way of providing retirement benefits. In order to ensure the maximum coverage the Annuity Fund was created. Unlike the pension plans, there is no minimum amount of credits necessary to qualify for benefits when you retire. When employers make contributions into the Annuity Fund, those contributions are credited to a specific individual account and remain there until withdrawn by the individual.

There are also three health insurance plans provided by the I.A. The different plans are required to address the variations in employment among the different crafts. Plan A covers members of all locals other than projection. Plan B covers projectionist locals. These plans provide uniform major medical and hopsitalization coverage for members and their families. Plan C was instituted to address the needs of members who do not have regular employment or for whom the employer is not contributing a sufficient amount for them to qualify for Plan A. Under Plan C, individuals can accumulate credits in individual accounts and then select the type and level of coverage they wish to receive.

As is the case with the National Annuity Fund, the National Vacation Fund has been established to provide benefits to our members who would otherwise be deprived of them because of the nature of their employment. Many workers would never receive vacation pay because they work for numerous employers during the course of the year. The National Vacation Plan was set up to allow local unions to negotiate contributions from employers for vacation pay. These contributions are remitted to the national fund and are placed in individual accounts in the same fashion as the annuity contributions. Each year during the month of May, checks are distributed to every individual for whom contributions had been received during the previous calendar year.

In addition to health services which require contractual contributions from employers, the I.A. provides other benefits to members and their families. We are represented on the Board of Directors of the Will Rogers Institute. The Institute provides treatment for a variety of heart and lung diseases free of charge to members of the entertainment industry. Recognized as comprising an essential component of the entertainment industry members of our union are eligible for free treatment of these disorders.

As was noted earlier, the I.A. has dedicated itself over the course of our history to meeting the challenges of new technologies. In order to keep our membership abreast of the latest advancements in the industry, we offer our membership a full range of educational programs. Among the programs that are administered by the International are Modern Technology in Theatre Seminars and Education-On-Location Seminars. The Modern Technology Seminar is an intensive week-long program geared to enabling our members to become familiar with a wide variety of new technologies ranging from automation and pyrotechnics to the latest in theatrical lighting equipment. The Education-On-Location Seminars are one or two day programs designed to provide basic skill training and re-training in local venues. In this manner, local unions can provide educational opportunities to their members without the necessity of traveling. Among the topics covered in these programs are basic electrical, rigging, and stage carpentry. In addition to these programs, the International also assists local unions in developing their own educational programs.

In an organization such as the I.A., with hundreds of local unions and over 100,900 members across North America, it is essential that communication be as efficient as possible. In an effort to reach out to our local unions and members and keep them informed of developments in our organization as well as the entire industry, the General Office publishes a quarterly magazine entitled The Official Bulletin. In an effort to make communication more immediate, we have recently introduced the I.A.T.S.E. Web Site. The web site includes contact information for the International and the local unions, historical information, General Executive Board information, Labor information and links, craft information and links, and membership assistance information. Our web site address is http://www.iatse-intl.org

There we have a bird's-eye view of the I.A.T.S.E. and the long, long way it has come since its founding over a century ago, toward accomplishing the purposes set forth in its International Constitution. These are: "To achieve, by organization and mutual endeavor, the improvement of the social and economic conditions of employees identified with the theatrical, television, moving picture, entertainment, amusement, and commercial or industrial show industries of the United States and Canada, working in any of the crafts, classifications or categories referred to in Article Eighteen, Section 10, of this Constitution or in any other craft, classification or category over which this Alliance exercises or may exercise jurisdiction or with respect to whom this Alliance holds or may acquire bargaining rights; to insure the maintenance of a fair rate of wages for services competently rendered; to assure the employment of all members in these industries; and to secure to ourselves by unity of action such benefits as are rightfully ours, pledging ourselves in all difficulties to accept wise, honorable and conservative mediation, that equity may be maintained."

The accomplishment of that goal has often been challenged by the vast changes which have occurred in the entertainment industry over the years. Through it all, however, the I.A.T.S.E. has moved steadily forward with a firm determination to bring under one banner the multitude of different crafts active in every technical phase of the legitimate theatre, motion picture theatres, film and video production, film distribution, television, the opera, etc. For many workers in this industry, I.A. membership is today one of the most valuable and proudest possessions of their lifetime. And they are convinced that this value and this source of pride will continue to grow mightily in the years ahead.

The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians,
Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada, AFL-CIO, CLC
1430 Broadway. 20th Floor
New York, NY 10036
(212) 730-1770