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Topic: Union Projectionists
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Joe Schmidt
Expert Film Handler
Posts: 172
From: Billings, Montana, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 11-15-2003 01:06 AM
A very perceptive Yale student has written the following, which was published in the Yale Daily News Friday 11/14. I would add to his thoughts only this: based on current trends, we are going to see things get far, far worse in this nation before they get better, if they do at all.
The rich are doing very well, while the poor get poorer. Perhaps it has always been this way, but the middle class is shrinking as it never has before, and the jobs aren’t coming back.
I see a lot of young people in these forums, and you had better all get politically active and be voting next year. If Bush is re-elected, and if the Rich Republicans capture more than 60 seats in the Senate, plus controlling the House, we are going to see an escalating disaster which will make today’s events seem like a church picnic. On the national, Congressional level, the Republicans represent the upper strata of the richest 1% and THAT IS ALL.
Now, here’s the article.
-- World is not ready for “open borders” --
By Steven Starr, YALE ‘05
In his Oct. 31 speech at Woolsey Hall, former President Bill Clinton expressed his support for international trade, insisting, "America has greater obligations to open up borders and to invest more in development in poor countries." While terms like "open borders" and "development in poor countries" sound inviting, there is a darker side to utopian visions of a more unified and open world. Freer international trade can be devastating for all citizens of the "global community" -- whether they are residents of the United States or of a "poor" American trading partner.
The U.S. economy lost 2.81 million jobs during the recession that began with the bursting of the tech bubble in March of 2000. Conservative estimates indicate that anywhere from 500,000 to 600,000 of these American jobs -- mostly in manufacturing -- have been transplanted overseas.
But statistics fail to convey the seriousness of these massive job losses. On Oct. 6, the Carrier Corporation -- a manufacturer of air conditioners based in Syracuse, New York -- announced that it would be closing its two Syracuse manufacturing plants. Carrier indicated that workers in China, Singapore and Georgia would replace the 1,200 laid-off Syracuse employees. According to Carrier Chief Executive George David, it is three times more expensive to build units in the United States than in Asia; indeed, to remain competitive, Carrier was forced to relocate its manufacturing plants.
Ironically, just this past May Mr. Clinton gave a commencement address to graduating Syracuse University seniors in the Carrier Dome -- the veritable manifestation of Carrier's importance to the Syracuse community. Of course, Mr. Clinton didn't know that the "global community" he touted in his speech would cause 1,200 Syracuse residents to lose their jobs. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the soon-to-be-unemployed Carrier workers watched his son or daughter graduate at that commencement.
Unfortunately, the future also looks grim for the Syracuse graduates that Clinton addressed. While thus far most of the "exported jobs" have been in manufacturing, professional labor is rapidly becoming a global commodity. American companies are increasingly finding their engineers, stock analysts and software designers abroad -- primarily in China, Russia and India. Morgan Stanley, for example, is increasing its number of analysts in Bombay, but not in New York, while Boeing has hired Moscow engineers and reduced its Seattle engineering staff.
For American companies it is a simple matter of cost-benefit analysis. Labor hired abroad is often half the cost of the high salaries, pensions and health insurance of an equivalent American workforce. And when frugal corporate officers consider the bottom line, concerns about community and civic responsibility carry little weight.
OK, so globalization doesn't seem so rosy for people in the United States. But what about the residents of countries like China? Surely these people are benefiting from the new job opportunities created by a massive influx of American capital.
Residents of developing countries are also getting the short end of the global stick. A recent series of New York Times articles have probed the abuses of Chinese workers at the hands of China's booming corporations. In one article, Shen Yunxiang, an employee at a pharmaceutical company in Taizhou, China, offered a story of particularly horrific disregard for human life. Mr. Shen was told to descend into a subterranean drainage pipe and knock down a barricade that had been diverting the flow of industrial waste. He and his brother-in-law climbed into the pipe and were immediately overwhelmed by a wave of noxious fumes. His brother-in-law died from the fumes; Mr. Shen lost consciousness and was hospitalized with severe lung congestion. Perhaps most shocking, however, is the fact that the company sent another worker into the pipe the very next day. This worker also died, along with a security guard who had tried to save him.
Mr. Clinton envisions a global community based on shared responsibilities, benefits and values. Unfortunately, the value that most quickly penetrates national borders is good old-fashioned American capitalism. And while in the United States the dangers of capitalism have been countered by government regulation and supervision, in an international community of 192 sovereign countries uniform and just regulation is nearly impossible. The result is that well-paid American jobs are replaced by sweatshop labor abroad, that safe working conditions and environmental concerns are sacrificed in a ruthless attempt to lower the bottom line.
Without the enforcement of international labor and environmental standards, free trade will lead to the devastation of the United States' economy and the ruthless exploitation of workers and natural resources in developing countries. It is essential that we prepare for an international economy with effective international labor and environmental laws. Without these regulations, "open borders" and "global community" will have a catastrophic influence on both American and foreign communities.
Steven Starr is a junior in Saybrook College.
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Justin West
Master Film Handler
Posts: 271
From: Peoria, IL, USA
Registered: Jul 2001
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posted 11-15-2003 02:27 AM
Re: "World is not ready for “open borders” --
By Steven Starr, YALE ‘05"
Wow, Joe, that kid is right on target!!! Glad to see some of the younger generation has a grip on what is happening around them. And I will add to what was written about all jobs being shipped out of this country, from manufacturing to tech/skilled jobs, by surmising that as the theater industry enters the digital era, those satellite feeds of movies/programs to the individual theaters can be sent out from locations outside the USA to computerized projection equipment that can be started and stopped remotely by same satellite...and thus will more jobs disappear in that field...and the "manager" of each theatre will be the kid who used to leave the concession counter to go push the button on the projector set-up...either that or, in this race-to-the-bottom reality, the manager will earn the wages that the popcorn kid USED to earn. None of us in the middle and lower economic classes in this country are benefitting from the insatiable greed of the wealthiest class...who would just as soon have all of us working on McJobs.
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Jeffry L. Johnson
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 809
From: Cleveland, Ohio, USA
Registered: Apr 2000
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posted 06-13-2004 01:26 PM
Cinema Labor Pains quote:
News : Cinema Labor Pains : Union files complaints against local theater chain
By Amy Starnes
Wednesday, June 09, 2004
Reel Trouble
The Cedar Lee, target of union complaints.
A UNION REPRESENTING movie projectionists claims its workers have been locked out of their jobs at four theaters owned or operated by Cleveland Cinemas. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 160 has filed two complaints with the National Labor Relations Board over the treatment of workers by Cleveland Cinemas and owner Jonathan Forman. Forman declined to comment for this story.
The first blow to the union came in early April when Chagrin Cinemas owner Larry Dolan, also owner of the Cleveland Indians, hired Cleveland Cinemas to operate his facility.
John Galinac, business agent for Local 160, said he wasn't much concerned about the transaction at first, because in the past Dolan had hired a cinema operator who had worked well with the union, and the union already had workers at Cleveland Cinemas' Cedar Lee, Shaker Square and Tower City properties.
Galinac says Forman told all employees they would be rehired if they filled out applications for Cleveland Cinemas, but when he dropped off the forms, the union projectionists were never told. Galinac said all the workers in the front of the movie house had an opportunity to apply, but only one projectionist managed to find a form and submit it.
We should have been able to apply, but we weren't offered [the opportunity] to apply. We were not even given the opportunity because of our union affiliation, Galinac claims.
That employee showed up for work on April 9, but Galinac says he was turned away by a Cleveland Cinemas employee and told, Didn't the union tell you that the union doesn't represent anyone anymore, and there are no more union positions here anymore?
Galinac says that when the employee was allowed to go to his booth and collect his personal belongings, he noticed non-union employees running the projection equipment.
The union projectionists were making about $18.25 per hour, while other similar non-supervisory, non-union positions at the theaters make about half that wage, and most don't have benefits, Galinac says.
Then on April 26, Galinac says, Forman's lawyer sent him a letter indicating that on June 1, Cleveland Cinemas was eliminating all dedicated projectionist positions at the Shaker Square, Cedar Lee and Tower City theaters, effectively laying off the employees.
Galinac acknowledges that there has been a trend in the industry to move away from dedicated projectionist positions to employing non-union workers who do a variety of work. But, he says, the union is open to renegotiating the contract in order to retain the number of positions and number of hours the workers had, and is willing to continue to change work rules to allow the employees to handle other duties rather than solely operate projection equipment during their shifts.
The union and Cleveland Cinemas negotiated during three meetings in May, moderated by a representative from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Galinac says that Forman wanted to reduce the workload from 160 hours a week split by several people to just 40 hours a week for one full-time and one part-time service technician, who would drive among all the theaters repairing equipment. Galinac would not agree to such a switch.
The end result is that as of Tuesday (June 1), we are locked out of Tower City, Shaker and Cedar Lee, and we are continuing to be locked out of Chagrin Cinemas, he says.
Allen Binstock, a field attorney for the National Labor Relations Board, is investigating Local 160's complaint about the actions at Chagrin Cinemas. A separate investigator is handling the complaint against Cleveland Cinemas. Binstock says he has met with the union and interviewed witnesses but is waiting for the company to respond to the charge.
At the end of his investigation, Binstock will make a recommendation to the NLRB's regional director in Cleveland, who will determine whether there is probable cause that the National Labor Relations Act was violated, and will decide whether to issue a complaint against the employer, unless the company is willing to settle the matter.
If not, a hearing will be scheduled before an administrative law judge, who will rule on the merits of the allegations and order a remedy if needed.
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![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
but regular gas was around $0.50/gallon here in 1973, before the gas crisis that December. $5.00 would fill my '68 VW Type 1 back then!
(would be $23.55 today ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
)
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