International President DiTolla Addresses ATPAM
Membership
During the Spring Overall Membership Meeting, an official
Affiliation Agreement between ATPAM and IATSE was signed by ATPAM President
Peter H. Russell and Secretary-Treasurer Berenice Weiler and by
International President Alfred W. DiTolla and Secretary Tom Short. President
DiTolla also presented ATPAM with an official charter, signifying the Union’s
status as an IATSE-affiliated local, effective July 1, 1994.
Succeeding these formalities, DiTolla briefly addressed
the membership. Speaking without notes, he graciously welcomed the members
of ATPAM into the IA family. Following is a transcript of his remarks.
"I apologize for being a little late. I hope you
weren’t trying to give me a message – all the doors were locked and the
escalator was running up instead of down. Be that as it may, welcome to the
IA.
This is really a very important moment for many reasons.
I want you to know that this activity on my behalf was endorsed by the last
International Convention. The reason for it is not the same as what’s
happening throughout the American labor movement – seeking dues-paying
members. That isn’t out goal and while I’m here, it won’t be our goal.
My goal is to represent as many people in the
entertainment industry – non-performing people – who properly belong
under one banner. The American labor movement does not recognize the fact
that that there is such a thing as the entertainment industry and that we
are all part of it.
I have encouraged, ever since my incumbency, the other
guilds and unions to join with us, not necessarily to affiliate with the IA,
but to join with us under some umbrella representation of people in the
entertainment industry. This helps, at least as far as the IA is concerned,
because now we can honestly say, particularly on Broadway, that nobody in
the theatre, other than actors and musicians, are unrepresented or are not
members of the IATSE. This certainly indicates, at least to the Broadway
community, that we are of one mind, that we have a goal – and that goal is
to properly represent all the people who are engaged in the entertainment
industry and who have contributed so much.
I look out there and I see a lot of familiar faces. In
January of 1995, I will have been a member of the IA for 50 years, in spite
of my youthful appearance. So that you understand, I have worked with some
of you, I have worked for some of you and I know that we have a common goal
– and that’s the best for the theatre, the best for the entertainment
industry and the best for the people who work for them.
I assure you that you will have the complete support of
the Alliance. I assure you that you will never, while I am here, be able to
say ‘Well, they took us in and now they got our per capita and that’s
the end of it.’ That’s not true. Every division that exists for the
benefit of the memberships of the affiliated local unions, applies to you as
well.
We have made it clear that we will not interfere with
your economy. We have made it clear that we will not interfere with your
benefit programs. But we will also make it clear that at any time you choose
to participate in our benefit programs – the IATSE National Pension Fund,
the IATSE Welfare Fund, the Vacation Fund, the Annuity Fund, provisions of
the Defense Fund, which you pay into, are all available for you to
participate.
I want you to feel as though you have become, at your old
age, adopted, and therefore, legitimate members of this family. That’s the
most important thing I have to say. There are no qualifications. There are
no restrictions. There are no areas where you are different from the rest of
us. You are now part of the family of the IATSE. If there’s anything, or
any questions that any one of you have, feel free to call upon any one of
us.
Please feel free to participate in all the activities –
the district meetings of the IATSE, which you will be part of, the
conventions of the IATSE, at which you will be represented. Make sure that
you make your presence known. Make sure that you let us know what your
concerns are, because your concerns are our concerns and our concerns are
the concerns of the entire Alliance.
I welcome you and at the same time I congratulate you,
because the IATSE, as you all well know, is 100 years old and you don’t
reach that age unless you live a good healthy life. It could be that during
that good healthy life you had a serious illness, but that illness was cured
and you were restored to health and you’re going on to bigger and better
things.
I think that when you, as I, conclude our careers in
entertainment, we’ll be able to say that, aside from our own families, we
were proud to be members of the IATSE family. Once again, welcome."
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