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Author Topic: Union Projectionists Richard May Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1057 From: Floral Park, NY USA Registered: Aug 2004 posted 05-13-2007 08:50 PM                     Back then the union didn't need them.  |  IP: Logged Rick Raskin Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1100 From: Manassas Virginia Registered: Jan 2003 posted 05-14-2007 02:02 PM                     Which is why I wondered about sanity within the IA. Dues paying members are just that, dues paying members. And their money spends just like any other. But, to Bill's point, the time to organize has long since passed.  |  IP: Logged System Notices Forum Watchdog / Soup Nazi Posts: 215 Registered: Apr 2004 posted 06-30-2010 12:51 AM                 It has been 1142 days since the last post.  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Smith Expert Film Handler Posts: 201 From: Youngstown, OH Registered: Jan 2010 posted 06-30-2010 12:51 AM                     I really wanted to write something detailed here, full of recent examples, but I don't want to get any Union or non-Union people in trouble by calling out specific examples of mediocrity I have experienced in the past month. To sumarize, though, and bring a dead thread back to life, I have to say that Union booths are MILES ahead of non-union in the way they treat their employees. My local has a good reputation in the market. We really care about what we do. I may have the fortune soon to join Local #600 here on the East Coast, but am looking forward to getting back to work up in the booth(until all the jobs disappear)... This thread has long gone cold, but I have to ask some of you how you feel, now that so many of you have "stood up" for these democratic benefactors the multiplexes, as they have laid down more than 30% cash in some cases to finance the elimation of your (our) jobs. Did some of you (the ones that are still on here making minimum wage 7 years ago are probably few and far between) ever take the time to actually watch the end credits of the movies you project at the rate of a quarter per screen? You'll notice a HONKING BIG IATSE logo emblazoned on just about every U.S.-made (in this area we are still number one BTW) film in theatres. The one exception I've personally projected would be "Paranormal Activity," a movie that didn't see fit to even credit the actors. So, has the failure of the unions and subsequent failure of employees in guest services' failure to unionize hastened the race to mediocrity that 2K DLP and 3D are now actively starting to bring to this industry? Guess we are fortunate that the mediocrity that is bringing the bar down below HOME TV quality is at least mostly absent in the studios that film the movies. There is an outsourcing trend going on, but the Union keeps domestic production safe from employer abuse. I also find it interesting some of the comments here about small businesses. As a small business owner myself, in an unrelated field, I pay my skilled employees $15/hr., and my unskilled employees $10, which was, incidentally more than I was making in a non-union booth. The Union here actually has negotiated lower rates for small independent theatres to accomodate their needs, in exchange for concessions on our end (other than free popcorn ;-) ). The Union here works WITH REASONABLE businesses, especially those invested in the area and not, say, Plano Texas, to meet the needs of all parties concerned. As a business owner, I think employees ought to make a fair wage. Even the wages I pay, full time, don't come out to that much money. . .  |  IP: Logged Joe Redifer You need a beating today Posts: 12859 From: Denver, Colorado Registered: May 99 posted 06-30-2010 01:06 AM                        quote: Jonathan Smith So, has the failure of the unions and subsequent failure of employees in guest services' failure to unionize hastened the race to mediocrity that 2K DLP and 3D are now actively starting to bring to this industry? I am not sure I understand this question. What do the employees work down in Guest Services have to do with the union and 2K DLP 3D, etc? Denver, to my knowledge, no longer has a functioning union. If anyone knows otherwise, I'd be curious as to what information on that could be dug up. And just in case my theater employer is reading: No, I am not planning on unionizing.  |  IP: Logged Jonathan Smith Expert Film Handler Posts: 201 From: Youngstown, OH Registered: Jan 2010 posted 06-30-2010 01:39 AM                     My question was: How long is it going to take these guys to get fed up the same way that auto workers did 70 years ago and unionize the theatres, fast-food restaurants and Wal-Marts? If they continue to mis-treat employees, it's inevitable for the downstairs workers to band together too. You're right though that guest services could probably care less about projection quality, though. I argue that it is in their best interest, long run, to keep their minimum-wage theatre jobs, to work for a venue that has a product better than a bootlegged bluray.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-30-2010 08:54 AM                     Local 113 is nothing but a Good Ol' Boy's club. If you are friends with the boss you will get calls. If you are not, don't even bother. There is no such thing as a permit list. You either have a card or you don't. If you're not one of the in-crowd, don't even bother applying for a card because you won't get called anyway. There is no training. Meetings are a joke. There is not a single one of them who knows the first thing about movie projection. Most of their hands are monkeys. In fact, that's what we call them. On the one or two shows when we have had to hire union union hands (because it was specified in the contract) we referred to them as "union monkeys." About the only thing that 90% of them are qualified to do is to push boxes up the truck ramp. There are a couple of them that aren't even qualified to do that. I would never consider joining, let alone allowing one of them to so much as set foot in my projection booth. http://www.unionfacts.com/unions/unionProfile.cfm?ID=39896&CFNoCache=TRUE&year=2006  |  IP: Logged Sean McKinnon Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1712 From: Peabody Massachusetts Registered: Sep 2000 posted 06-30-2010 09:13 AM                        FWIW, I know of one theatre that attempted to organize floor staff. In this case the IATSE local 182 tried to organize the floor staff at a Loews theatres 20 screen in Danvers, Ma. This was during contract negotiations that were not looking good for thew union. When it was found out that if the Projectionists were locked out or went on strike that the floor staff would have to go with them and that the one Loews theatre with a union floor staff made less per hour than most of the employees that had been there a while and that they were not eligible for the concession bonus programs, and that all raises would be tied soley to how long a person worked there rather than thier individual skill the floor staff workers all turned in thier cards and they never even bothered holding a vote. I know a lot of the staff were teenagers or working mothers who did not see any benefit to being forced to not work for a while. A lot of them also made a lot of extra money on the concession incentives as this was a very busy theatre in an upper class area. We catered to children and families mostly and they tended to buy a lot of concessions. 25 cents a combo (or 50 cents on holidays) adds up quick. I know one lady who made more in bonuses than her hourly wages!  |  IP: Logged Martin McCaffery Film God Posts: 2481 From: Montgomery, AL Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-30-2010 09:23 AM                        As a former union projectionist I'll say that 30+ years ago when I joined the DC local, the only good houses to see movies were union, but that doesn't mean there weren't bad union houses. In a perfect world I would like to see theatres get organized and the unions get their acts together again. I doubt it will happen under IATSE, which is a shame. As for stage hands, when I was called in to work on stage jobs with the DC Stagehands local ( a separate local in DC) they were the most talented and professional group I've ever seen on a job. Everyone knew their job and did it. For comparison, I was once called to a job that was a non-union show in a union house (Some Jerry Falwell presentation). The non-union people who were running the operation didn't have a clue as to what to do or how to do it, so lots of us were just sitting around waiting for them to make up their minds and figure out what they wanted us to do. There are lots of factors that go into any work situation. I think we all tilt one way or another and hope for the best.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-30-2010 10:28 AM                     To be clear, I have no problem with unions, per se, but the union in this town is nothing but a joke. It's a bad joke, at that. It is so bad, in fact, that when the theater I used to work at talked about unionizing they went to the IBEW instead of IATSE. Even though it is supposed to be against the rules, they could throw their weight around enough to keep the weak stagehand's union at bay. Nothing ever came of it for various and sundry reasons. My problem is that, regardless of what union organizes the shop or what local chapter of the union has jurisdiction, the goal of the workers changes from getting the job done to maintaining political power. I would not give even one cent of my money to an organization that doesn't look out for my interests.  |  IP: Logged Richard Hamilton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1341 From: Evansville, Indiana Registered: Jan 2000 posted 06-30-2010 11:46 AM                     I haven't worked in an operating union booth, but I've done enough installs that I can say union people can kiss my ass. I did one install that was "non-Union" , the union people were pissed off and would come in and slash the screens and do shit after the theater opened. I did one install where we had a long meeting with the electrical union in which they demanded installing all of the speakers because the wire had to be terminated at the speaker. I said I don't give a shit, because I always go through behind them and check the terminations. They took about 2 hours to assemble and hoist 1 speaker, then they gave up. A card in your pocket doesn't make you any smarter.  |  IP: Logged Robert E. Allen Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1078 From: Checotah, Oklahoma Registered: Jul 2002 posted 06-30-2010 12:57 PM                     You're right Richard. But a card in your pocket doesn't necessarily make you any dumber either. It's not accurate to make generalized assumptions about all union members.  |  IP: Logged Richard Hamilton Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1341 From: Evansville, Indiana Registered: Jan 2000 posted 06-30-2010 01:16 PM                     I agree, I could care less if you're union or not. (Not you personally) When I want to finish an install and have to wait because the Union electrions have to take a 30 minute smoke break because they are intitled to it really pisses me off. I usually try to work after 3 PM when the union guys just drop their tools and walk out the door because it is their union quitting time. Thats when I terminate wires and double check shit I'm talking installs in the states, not running a booth. By the way...I'm not union if you didn't guess  |  IP: Logged Frank Angel Film God Posts: 5305 From: Brooklyn NY USA Registered: Dec 1999 posted 06-30-2010 01:24 PM                        I spoke with a 30 year union veteran of the New York's Local 306 who told me that the NY Union for all intent and purpose is dead. They basically accept whatever the chains tell them they are willing to give them. There are no real negotiations with management and the union is one in name only. He is convinced that this is the inevitable end due to their-self distructive practices over many many years. These last union death rattles are of their making.  |  IP: Logged Randy Stankey Film God Posts: 6539 From: Erie, Pennsylvania Registered: Jun 99 posted 06-30-2010 01:29 PM                     I think people should be entitled to a break regardless of their union status. It's a good idea for everybody to have a 30 minute dinner break and 15 minutes worth of cigarette/rest breaks for every 4 hour shift. (or some negotiated amount of time) The problem is the sense of universal entitlement that people develop. They start to think that because they are allowed to have a break that they are the arbiters of when and where the break shall be taken. Yes, people should be allowed to go eat or rest on their shifts. Yes, people should be allowed to go smoke or drink coffee, etc. but their breaks should be staggered if possible and they should not simply drop their tools en masse when the 12:00 whistle blows. It is precisely that sort of mentality that puts people off unions, in general.  |  IP: Logged

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