Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/1256324
6 • THE ARTISAN SPRING 2020 Sisters, Brothers and Kin; Global pandemic. A phrase that was not part of my campaign literature a year and a half ago; words that were not even printed in our last Artisan magazine earlier this year. The world has changed, and we have all had to adapt to a 'new normal' of face masks, physical distancing—and an entertainment industry that is not yet able to provide our employment. We have now all been touched by COVID- 19. We have members who are sick, and oth- ers caring for family members with the virus; members hospitalized, on ventilators, and we have already lost valued creative gifted arti- sans from within our own Local 706 family … and we have members who have success- fully recovered. Our main concern remains the continued health and safety of our membership. Period. No other considerations come close to keeping our members mentally, emotionally and physically healthy. However, your union and Local 706 have taken unparalleled steps to financially assist our membership: removing late fees, fines and assessments, lowering the per capita payments, waiving an entire quarter of dues—and allowing our members additional months to catch up on their dues payments; all unprecedented measures in the history of our union. Since the onset of the crisis, our union has been in daily com- munication with the industry's employers (the AMPTP, the producers) and we have worked out first-time programs to assist our Roster members, guarantee our Motion Picture Industry Health Plan benefits, and allow hardship loans against our Individual Account Plan (IAP) retirement benefits. Local 706 has been in communication with our employers up and down the state—Disneyland Resort, network television stations, theater, ballet and opera companies—to discuss extensions of wages and benefit payments, and return-to-work issues. This represents an extraordinary amount of cooperative effort, time and commit- ment by your union leadership and your employer(s) working together for your benefit. In April, I was tasked by IATSE Vice President Michael Miller to organize a committee from within our Local to begin writing the rules and protocols for an eventual return to work; this is an extension of my work on the Industry-Wide Labor-Management Safety Committee, which includes representatives from every union (SAG-AFTRA, Teamsters, DGA, WGA, IBEW and oth- ers), union locals within the IATSE, and every studio. I selected an outstanding panel from an array of nearly two dozen qualified members who volunteered to assist me. Our recommendations were approved by the Industry-Wide Labor-Management Safety Committee and passed along to Gov. Gavin Newsom/California and Gov. Andrew Cuomo/New York for their consideration. These policies will now become the new industry safety stan- dard, and apply to all productions within the United States and Canada—so that no IATSE member will be required to jeopardize their health or safety on any film, television or theater production at any time. I am immensely proud of the contribu- LOCAL PERSPECTIVE tions by this Local to protect our members; thank you to Howard Berger, Kate Biscoe, Todd McIntosh, Polly Lucke, Stacey Morris, Justin Raleigh (and many others) for your gifts of time, experience and knowledge. The IATSE and your Local 706 are writ- ing the protocols and guidelines for safety standards for a safe return to work in our industry. It is still the employers' responsi- bility to provide a safe and harassment-free workplace and the proper personal protective equipment (PPE) to perform our jobs safe- ly—and safety is still a mandatory subject for Collective Bargaining (to be negotiated and agreed to by both the union and the pro- ducers). Safety in our workplaces is not open to individual negotiation or interpretation; it is my job to keep you safe at work. It all starts with you. You are the union. Please enjoy your issue of The Artisan. Sincerely and fraternally, Randy Sayer BY RANDY SAYER Business Representative, I.A.T.S.E. Local 706 ...it is my job to keep you safe at work. " We do not need to allow fear to rule our lives… We can start by getting our news from reliable sources: actual news publications or programs, such as scientific news from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and our indus- try news from our union or union local. As we seek information from outside sources, please remember: Variety, Deadline Hollywood and similar musings are entertain- ment periodicals targeting the artists and craftspeople who earn a living within our entertainment industry (think National Enquirer or People magazines); they are not news publications (Time or Newsweek). Articles in these entertainment forums (just like Facebook) are not required to be accurate or factual, and are meant to be provocative, hoping to stir up controversy—and maybe even get quoted in actual publications or on-air. So, when we read that we will all soon have to wear oxygen tanks and full hazmat suits, or live in a lockdown facility, or sign waivers giving away our rights, please consider the source. Is this a trusted news publication—or is it a gossip rag? Did it come from your union or union local? Is our International President Matthew Loeb quoted— or just a couple of yahoos who worked on a show in another state? Regarding the signing of waivers: everything required as a condition of our employment is subject to Collective Bargaining; in other words, your union and the employer must negotiate and agree. While we are all allowed to negotiate better terms, wages and working conditions on our individual deal memos, we are not allowed to ever waive any portion of a contract. Period. We can- not be asked to perform our work 'gratis' (for free), waive overtime, double-time or turnaround provisions, or waive anything related to health & safety, OSHA or Cal-OSHA rules, legal protections or our rights. If you are asked to do any of the above, bring it to my attention! " 80 70 70 100 10.2 7.4 7.4 100 100 100 100 100 60 100 100 70 70 30 30 100 100 60 100 100 100 100 70 70 30 30 100 100 60 70 70 40 70 70 30 30 100 40 100 40 40 100 10 40 40 20 70 70 3.1 2.2 2.2 70 40 40 75 66 66 50 40 40 25 19 19 B 0 0 0 0 100 70 30 100 10 25 50 75 90 100 100 60 100 70 30 100 60 40 70 40 70 30 100 40 40 100 40 100 40 70 40 70 40 40 3 40 70 40 70 40 40 100 60 A 3% ISO 12647-7 Digital Control Strip 2009