Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1535953
34 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Summer 2025 that it's easier to address with someone that you are trying to partner with. MU: Do you have any special skills or history that really help you with your support for members? JOE: I think my family history would be important. Being around my father, I learned a lot from him about how to get the job done. MU: And your brother Steve, too. He's an important part of the IA's West Coast Office team in the field. Your dad, Joe Aredas, Sr., has special history in more ways than as a member. Joe, Sr. was a longtime rep here at Local 695, then became the head of the IATSE West Coast Office for many years. He's been in leadership for many years, former head of the West Coast Office, now retired and for me personally was a very important mentor and guiding spirit at the very beginning of my and my wife's coming into the union. JOE: Was that in the '80s? MU: Yes, it was 1983 to be exact. How would you describe your relationship with the members? JOE: I would say I strive to connect with our members professionally. I really attempt to connect personally. It's important to remember who they are and what is going on with them if I have that information, you know, like their family may just have had a kid. Or they are not working as much and how can I help them? That kind of stuff. I try to genuinely connect with our members the best I can. MU: Do you continue with ongoing training for different aspects of the work? JOE: I have taken all the IA training that I could for organizing. I strive for safety training myself. I just finished the OSHA 30. [Editor's note: OSHA's 30-day safety training course.] I try to think of safety all the time. I am on the Contract Services Safety Committee and working with developing their bulletins. I was lucky enough to be involved with the ergonomic long, takes bulletin. [Editor's note: These guidelines protect Boom Operators and other crew members subject to unsafe extended takes. The bulletins are agreements between labor and management that define safety protocols for the industry and are supposed to have the teeth of enforcement.] MU: Yes. We have some history together serving on the Safety Committee for several years. I know you were the front end of the Local for that journey. And it took a while, but it bore fruit by having that become a proper bulletin as opposed to the lesser guidelines. That was a very important moment, a real achievement. JOE: I always hope that the members learn about that kind of stuff and read about that stuff. It's all available online now. It's all changed since I started. And sometimes we're bringing up things that we think need to be in a safety bulletin. As the changes take place, the Safety Committee will make changes as well. MU: Can you give me a little bit of information about the OSHA 30 training that you've just completed and what it brings to the membership? JOE: Well, there's an OSHA 10 class and an OSHA 30 class. I thought I have been on the Safety Committee; I really need to commit to this training. A lot of it was very important to listen to. Right now, they're coming out with a new safety advisor position. This is a new law in California, so a lot of people were taking this training to try to qualify for that position. The training went through pretty much every facet of safety that we could go through and in great depth. Other topics are certainly included like sound hearing protection, fall protection, harassment training, including bullying. MU: What does the 10 versus the 30 numbers mean for the OSHA training? [Editor's note: OSHA stands for: Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a US Department of Labor agency.] JOE: The 10 is for 10 hours and 30 means 30 hours, MU: When a member calls and needs help, depending on what the need is, what's your process? How do you deal with that as it's coming in? JOE: I will speak with a member, read what they say, and open a track on my computer. Sometimes it's a black-and-white situation that I'm able to answer. And sometimes there's a little bit of interpretation required. It depends. MU: Can we talk a little bit about Weingarten Rules? There are situations where you must represent members. Can you describe a little bit of that for me, and what a member can expect or ask for if they feel they're having a problem or a crisis at work? JOE: I will represent at a moment's notice or talk to the company about scheduling any meetings. Any type of meeting that must take place. And there's been a change in the last, I'd say, six or nine months with meetings. Years ago, you would never, an Assistant Business Agent or a Business Agent would never meet with human resources slash employee relations. There're times when we're included in those meetings. It used to be I would just deal with a labor relations person. But in the last six or nine months, there's been meetings. And I think for the better, to be able to attend those meetings. To structure different employee relations or human resources. MU: What do you think caused that change? JOE: I think it's an employer who is looking at things differently now. I do think it's better for safety. I think more things are