Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1475069
THE ARTISAN FALL 2022 • 5 with at times. At the office, we still wear masks in any room where there is more than one person. Tightening up protocol with daily self-screening and weekly certification of the daily self-screening. As the new COVID cases escalate in Los Angeles, the industry's "Return to Work" agreement is set to expire on July 15, 2022, but the latest from the L.A. County Public Health Department may have other ideas… "All of the information to date points to the need for us to prepare for the likelihood of significant transmission in the upcoming weeks," warned Los Angeles County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer on June 30, 2022. The hardest-hit classification by the pandemic has been theater. While film and television, streaming, streaming video on demand (SVOD) and commercials have been able to "Return to Work" with greater force … stagecraft and theater have not. Many of our members have suffered the extreme hardships of this ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus. Shows were allowed to open, only to be closed again in a matter of a few weeks. Our "Member 2 Member" program allows any member help pay the dues of any other member in need. This is HOW IT WORKS: Any member in any classification can help any other member in any classification by anonymously paying a portion or all the dues of any member who is behind in their dues to the point they will not be able to work, or they will face suspension for lack of payment. If you know of a member who is in this situation or you just want to help ANY member in this situation, please contact myself, the Welfare Committee, or Members' Dues at ext. 1107 at the Local … You know the number, (818) 295-3933 x1107. After only four weeks in office as your Business Representative, I have been honored by an appointment to the AICP (National Commercial Contract) Negotiation Committee by our International President Matthew Loeb. Negotiations tentatively start in August 2022 in New York. And speaking of honored … President Julie Socash, Asst. Business Rep. Patrice K. Madrigal and myself witnessed the swearing in of our own Leslie Devlin to the California Bar Association. That is right, there is a California lawyer on my team and is a part of the women who are going to make OUR UNION STRONGER…strong women, strong union! "It's time to RETHINK everything." As always, in Solidarity and Unity, Karen J. Westerfield To the 706 Community, I want to start off with an incredible "Thank You" for the courage and support to bring change and progression into our Local. Sisterhood, brotherhood, and kinship are only words until we back them with the spirit of love, forgiveness, strength, and hope for our future. "The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on building the new." -Socrates As the first woman Asian-American Business Representative of IATSE Local 706, I realize what a monumental responsibility I have undertaken on to support ALL 706 members and to bring about the necessary changes to lift our Local to greater heights and accomplishments. Change is necessary to stay in the front of the herd … but change often moves slowly and can come at an extraordinary price. I am willing to pay that price to make Local 706 a stronger, more unified community. The obstacles, hurdles, and naysayers are abundant … It just makes the victory all that much sweeter. The members have asked for change for more than 21 years, and it took us this long to bring that change about. Volunteering, continued education, running for office, being a Board member, chairing committees, participating in the betterment of our Local and the following… I have assembled an incredible team of women: LESLIE DEVLIN, Asst. Business Representative – Roster PATRICE K. MADRIGAL, Asst. Business Representative – Theater/Non-Roster and myself: KAREN J. WESTERFIELD, Business Representative Together, we have formed an amazing supportive network for our membership. Patrice and I negotiated the wage section of the Disneyland Resort Cosmetology Department on my first day in office (May 23, 2022). Within two full days of negotiations, we were able to get an increase in wages ranging from 24%-28.4% for the beginning of our contract and an annual increase of 4% over the next four years. 73% of the bargaining unit voted to ratify the new contract with a 100% YES VOTE to ratify! The negotiations were so successful, that members who had left the cosmetology unit because of the low wages, have called to see if they could come back to a job that they loved (but were not making a decent wage at that time). Virtually unheard of before now. We have taken the time to listen to our members as they still navigate the uncertain waters of the COVID pandemic. New variants and constant protocol changes have been difficult to deal LOCAL PERSPECTIVE K J. W Business Representative, I.A.T.S.E. Local 706