Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1152338
18 NEWS & ANNOUNCEMENTS The 75th Annual IATSE District 2 Convention was held at the Sheraton Waikiki Beach, Honolulu, June 2019. District 2 represents forty-nine locals, more than fifty-three thousand I.A. members from a variety of crafts with jurisdiction in Arizona, California, Hawaii, and Nevada. Every year, elected officers and delegates from these four states meet to strategize activism and political legislation. Our five elected delegates spent four days networking with other locals in the West Coast Bargaining Group under the IATSE Basic Agreement. POLITICS 75th Annual District 2 Convention Throughout the conference, our Local 695 delegates chaired and joined individual committees, including Constitution & Bylaws, Financial, Education, Safety & the Resolution Committee. Scott Bernard, Business Representative, chaired the Constitution & Bylaws Committee in 2019. Joe Aredas, Assistant BA and Field Representative, participated in the Financial Committee. Devendra Cleary CAS, Executive Board, sat on the Safety Committee, where he discussed health hazards and long- term ergonomic injuries of working excessively long hours. Chris Howland CAS, Sergeant-at-Arms, took part in the Education Committee's discussion on Malia Arrington from The Hollywood Commission addresses the delegates of the District 2 Convention about the work the Commission is doing to end harassment and bias in the entertainment industry. how to organize and provide support to crews on strike. Jennifer Winslow, Trustee, joined the Resolutions Committee. Together, the committee passed thirteen resolutions expanding the coverage for reproductive care, improving the memberships' understanding of the health and pension plans, making sure that emergency medical care includes "in-network" services (California Assembly Bill 1611), ensuring members who work out-of- state and need medical care can draw from the California State Disability Insurance program (Senate Bill 271), and to promoting committees that support LGBTQ issues. A resolution submitted by Local 600, ensures that District 2 "will actively participate in an internal campaign to educate members about their benefit plans, including information about the funding sources and status of the plans." International President Matthew Loeb challenges the delegates of the District 2 Convention to get involved in their communities and in poli- tics. "We have to be the people who make this country better for working folks." IATSE President Matt Loeb reported on the contracts ratified by IATSE nationwide in 2018, including the Basic Agreement in Los Angeles. "This is the greatest union in the American labor movement," said Loeb. "And that's because of all of you and all your members who buy in, who stand together, who fight for what's right. That's what brings this organization the power to help the working families that we've obligated ourselves to represent." Loeb's address to the convention mentioned the rapid expansion of the streaming industry. "We've got Netflix now with almost two hundred new projects," he said. "Amazon, YouTube, and Hulu combined have another almost two hundred productions slated. All this production means increased hours into our health and pension plans, more residual payments and, of course, jobs for our people." Our delegates proudly represented Local 695 at this year's convention and reported their progress at the monthly Board of Directors meeting in June 2019. "I really enjoy attending D2. Every time I attend, I meet new delegates and enjoy putting a face to some of the representatives our Local deals with day-to-day on various contract issues." said Joe Aredas "Despite the beautiful setting of this year's conference in Hawaii and the island spirit that flourished on social media outlets, I must emphasize the importance of the work that was done. The three days we spent in the convention hall were scheduled to the brim with officer training, speeches and committee sessions; concluding in after-hour networking and solidarity events. However, beautiful the setting was, the resolutions we passed are crucial to the health and well-being of more than fifty-three thousand IATSE members in the Western United States and provide a fundamentally Local 695 Business Representative Scott Bernard speaks before the convention.