Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1011062
22 • THE ARTISAN SUMMER 2018 keeps money in California and makes money for California, all the while keeping families together in California. This is unprecedented in the world we live in to have almost unani- mous bipartisan support behind the tax incentives. To be standing with all our other IATSE brothers and sisters, such as the wardrobe, grip and camera locals, along with a huge coalition of the Teamsters, the independent filmmakers and film commissions from NorCal, Central California, SoCal and San Diego, all in unison fighting for the same goal, all together thanking our legislators. This has been an ongoing campaign for many years and our own Local 706 was on the ground level way back to when we passed the last California tax incentive. The facts and figures speak for themselves. This tax incentive which has helped us all to stay employed is actually a positive for the state of California. The more we film in California, the more money California makes. To date, more than 45,000 cast and crew have been re-employed or employed on the 150 film and TV pro- ductions that got the incentive. That's $2.3 billion in wages paid to you and to other below-the-line men and women. And we have also brought back $5.9 billion to the state economy. I remember traveling to Sacramento when we were fighting to get the first Tax Incentive Bill passed and going into all of the legislators' offices on both the Assembly and Senate side. The attitude and the support was very different back then. Now our legislators stand behind us and the bill. This was an opportunity for us to say thank you and let every single representative who voted yes on the tax incentive know how much they are appreciated. This visit to the Capitol let them see the actual working men and women who are affected by this incentive. It was a very eye-opening experience to see all the other lobbying and advocacy groups gathered to get attention to their cause, people clamoring and yelling and putting forth their grievances. This happens at the Capitol every single day, but our group received one-on-one attention from many of our Assembly and Senate men and women because our voices were positive and uplifting and we heard over and over from them on numerous occasions the words, "No one ever thanks us … We are with you!" Some of them went on to tell us they have relatives in the film and television industry, while sharing their personal stories and claiming they understood how special and important this vote was. Assemblyman Ian Calderon met with us and spoke about the impor- tance of getting the tax incentive money into the budget and on the governor's desk. He and fellow lawmakers (including Sen. Holly Mitchell) have worked continuously to galvanize support to make sure that the bill be included in the budget and that all the lawmakers that supported the bill would then vote for its inclusion. Brothers and sisters, it was included in the budget vote, passed and was recently signed by Gov. Jerry Brown! It's such a small and easy thing to tell someone thank you, yet it makes such a big impression and such a huge difference. Think about how it feels when your department head or the actors, directors, producers you are working with, tell you thank you for your work and recognize you. That is what we were able to do in Sacramento. We acknowledged their yes vote, said thank you and asked them to get it in the budget—which they did! I urge each of you to continue to personally thank our legislators in California for their votes and all the 706 union leaders and members who took time to help fight for the passage of this bill. We should all be very happy and proud of the outcome. Congratulations to all and THANK YOU! STAND UP, FIGHT BACK Say NO to "Right to Work" The Supreme Court just ruled against working people in Janus v. AFSCME, Council 31, and in doing so, joined the dark web of corporate interests to continue the assault on all of us. This decision abandons decades of common sense precedent in favor of greater rights for corporations. All over the country—from our public schools to the food service industry—working people are taking collective action as we haven't seen in years. The middle class is proof that the best way to get a raise, better ben- efits and a voice on the job is through a union contract. That's why these corporate elites are doing all they can to break us up. Here's the thing: We have never depended on any politician or judge to decide our fate and we aren't about to start now. Workers' rights are constitutional and that hasn't changed. What has changed is the power of corporations to hurt workers. Greedy CEOs and special interests have used the Supreme Court to do the bidding of the corporations and their donors who want to weaken working people's freedoms. Now people's ability to negotiate together for safer workplaces, higher wages and better benefits is being threatened. Read more here: http://www.local706.org/say-no-to-right-to-work/ Anti-Public Sector Union Supreme Court Decision * Public Sector Union Members: Employees that work for government entities. (Ex: Teachers, firefighters, police officers) STAND UP, FIGHT BACK Say NO to "Right to Work" "Right to work" is the name for a policy designed to take away rights from working people. Backers of right to work laws claim that these laws protect workers against being forced to join a union. The reality is that federal law already makes it illegal to force someone to join a union. The real purpose of right to work laws is to tilt the balance toward big corporations and further rig the system at the expense of working families. These laws make it harder for working people to form unions and collectively bargain for better wages, benefits and working conditions. Janus v. AFSCME: UPDATE The US S"preme Co"rt recently decided in Jan"s ". AFSCME that the p"blic sector is now entirely �right-to-work� in one fell swoop. Jan"s has been the c"lmination of decades of attacks on working people by corporations and the wealthy – and the politicians who do their bidding – to rig the economy in their fa"or. The forces that were behind the case are the same forces that ha"e p"shed to limit "oting rights, "ndermine ci"il rights, and the relentless attack on immigrants. The case was p"rely a political scheme to f"rther rig the economy against working people by striking down the freedom of working people to come together in strong "nions. We m"st work to combat this attack on collecti"e bargaining by talking with o"r friends, families, and co-workers. 3.1% A"erage of ann"al percentage drop in salary in right to work states Right to Work States 12 of 15 states with the worst gender and racial pay gaps are Right-to-Work states. WHAT'S AT STAKE? Right to Work laws eliminate freedom and flexibility for workers. Workers lose job sec"rity, good-paying jobs and health ins"rance in states that pass "right to work" legislation. In these states, higher "nemployment and lower pay is a reality that working families face across both p"blic and pri"ate sectors. Announcement! Anti-Public Sector Union Supreme Court Decision The rate of workplace fatalities are 54% higher in states with Right- to-Work laws. *** Public Sector Union Members: Employees that work for government entities. (Ex: Teachers, firefighters, police officers) ACTIVISM & ADVOCACY