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Applying to 695 as boom op


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TV: " . although technically boom ops and even mixers can be hired under the 665 contract, "

sometimes.

and Tom noted the huge factor: " The bottom line, the people that get hired are the people hired for their reputation and experience, irregardless of what union membership they have. "

 

" sometimes we almost seem like the jungle backlot for LA, without having to go to a foreign country. "

you have been reading the Hawai'i Film Office's propaganda again...

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Since young Steve (much like myself and many other members of the group) has "Outkicked his coverage" in at least one aspect of his life here in the Mid-Atlantic region I understand why he wouldn't be eager to pull up stakes for work in another place. 

 

When 695 members come to our region for work, I hope you contact Local 487's business agent before the job starts as a courtesy since sound is one of our covered crafts.

Best regards,

Jim

 

PS Rates-wise, Washington DC is a production city and often the rates we work under are identical to those 695 members are entitled to as a contract minimum. And a reminder: contract rates are MINIMUM rates. You are always free to negotiate a higher rate. You'd be surprised how often your offer will be accepted.

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  • 3 weeks later...

When I joined L695 in 1998, I was a member of L480 in New Mexico.  I was told by our then interim Business Agent Ken Ross that I HAD to withdraw from 480 in order to join 695.  I didn't know then what I know now and withdrew. By the time I found out that I didn't have to do it, it was too late to go back to 480 to be reinstated. Too bad. At this point, it would've been nice to be a dual card member.

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  • 1 month later...

Wow, RVD got a whole lot of things messed up in that post, as in previous posts, but I don't think I could change his mind about any of it.  As has often been said on this forum, there are lots of different reasons why different people in different situations would consider joining Local 695 or any other IA Local and those who think they might benefit from those affiliations should probably do so and then see if it suits their needs.

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"There's no way, the Local in Atlanta, is going to allow someone to join that doesn't reside in that state.

So, please help me to understand, why Local 695 allows all to join.  Let's just start with that, and help to set me right about all that I don't understand."

 

I'm hoping Laurence will clarify certain things, but all the focus on  who is allowed to join, where they live and so forth, seems to just muddy the waters rather than help illuminate the issues. Things get pretty messy when considering this statement, also from RVD:  "Look, we all know why people want to join Local 695, they want to be able to maybe someday, earn the big bucks."  Well, why do members of L695 "earn the big bucks"? Because if you are a member of L695 and have been fortunate enough to do most all of your jobs at scale rates (or over)  and under the West Coast Basic Agreement, you're going to make more money, have better working conditions and benefits regardless of where you live or where you work. 

 

What I'm hoping Laurence can clear up is exactly how jurisdiction works. I'm a 38 year member of L695 and I have worked all over the United States and about 10 other countries around the world, and every single job has been under the West Coast Basic Agreement, wages and working conditions. So, what is Local 695's jurisdiction? Does it matter where I live? Does any of it matter? Now, cut to today's world, where the main deciding factor for many of the members of L695, whether we are offered a job or not, is based on where we live, what Local we are in and our willingness to work under a union contract that is seriously deficient in both wages and working conditions compared to L695 and the West Coast Basic Agreement. Since the Union does not get you the job, it is not a hiring hall, the decision to join one local or another, is very much a personal one.

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Maybe an elucidation of 695's definition of "jurisdiction" is in order?  I have been an IATSE member for 30 years, all as a sound mixer and all as a member of Local 16 (SF).  No one from 695 has ever approached me, here, in LA or anywhere else about their jurisdiction over my work, as well as where my dues and work fees go, who pays for my health care and where (I hope ) my retirement benes will come from.  Re: forming a national, Local 600-style local for soundies, those latter details will be the real test of how that can or can't work out.

 

philp

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Jeff, under the Basic Agreement, the producer can bring a Local 695 member to work just about anywhere they want.  That ability to work under the better wages and conditions of the Basic, along with maybe even a perceived prestige element for the resume, might be reasons why some people join 695.  But as you well know, 695 has neither a large number of non-Los Angeles members nor a plan to change that. Bringing all IA workers nationwide under the Basic Agreement or even just all the sound and video people would help the members tremendously but of course, this won't ever happen unless the people outside of 695 made it happen... and since THAT won't happen, neither will the stronger Basic Agreement be applied to all.  The Producer has us right where they want us, competing and bickering with each other, easily assuring that they can continue to maintain control over the workforce.

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"The Producer has us right where they want us, competing and bickering with each other, easily assuring that they can continue to maintain control over the workforce"   ...and we all become participants in the race to the bottom. Where that "bottom" is may very well be pretty much out of our hands as well (which will suit the employer just fine). The International is not too concerned with this because they get the dues, the per capita and so forth, regardless of whether we have decent wages and working conditions. 

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Jeff, under the Basic Agreement, the producer can bring a Local 695 member to work just about anywhere they want.  That ability to work under the better wages and conditions of the Basic, along with maybe even a perceived prestige element for the resume, might be reasons why some people join 695.  But as you well know, 695 has neither a large number of non-Los Angeles members nor a plan to change that. Bringing all IA workers nationwide under the Basic Agreement or even just all the sound and video people would help the members tremendously but of course, this won't ever happen unless the people outside of 695 made it happen... and since THAT won't happen, neither will the stronger Basic Agreement be applied to all.  The Producer has us right where they want us, competing and bickering with each other, easily assuring that they can continue to maintain control over the workforce.

 

Please explain why the above comment, that I've highlighted in bold, won't or can't happen.  Is it because it's not good for the members of the IATSE or because it's not good for the business agents of the locals and higher mucky mucks of IATSE?

 

Honestly, who works for who? It seems to be that the members work for the leadership of the IATSE instead of the other way around.

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RVD quoted:  "   Scott's answer was forthright, and immediate, he said, "It's nationwide.....er, um...." "

and added: " While this is a true statement, Local 695 was granted jurisdiction nationwide, "

I still suspect there are some semantic hairs being split here....

the jurisdiction of a local is set forth in its charter; although there may be work under its legitimate  jurisdiction that occurs outside its physical jurisdiction.

then: " I asked, "How does Local 695 support their immediate membership, by accepting members who reside out of state?"  The answer,  "We support them as we always have.  To the best of our abilities." " more unclarity...

I know many member who reside outside SoCal who work here frequently, and or on productions that are contractually out of SoCal.

OTOH: " I'm personally of the opinion, that ANY Local should be supported by those that live within a certain radius of the Local's location, and the Local should work to see that ALL members live and support the local community. "  this starts getting complicated, but not all union "Locals" are defined  partly or even entirely by physical location. (example  695 and 44 both have the same geographic location)

 

" How does the state of California feel about this, they just passed an incentive program in an effort to return work to the state. "

they love it, as Joe pays CA taxes, and spends a lot of the dough here, and the production spends dough on him (like catering, crafty, etc.)... and if Joe puts himself up in CA, and specifically SoCal, how can the state, or 695 object, let alone interfere with Joe's rights to do so  Local 695 has a few basic requirements for membership (and of course there is the roster to deal with), but in general there are a lot of craftsmen, specialists, and others, typically skilled, nomadic folks who are sort-of gypsy's that go where the work is when the work is there...

Laurence and JW have made excellent valid points, and I suspect that Scott's answers need to be taken with a bit of considered understanding of his situation and status as a rep for the Local (695). 

 

This discussion requires a lot more understanding of "Labor" as an institution, and there are plenty of college studies and professionals who still find plenty to discuss (and argue),  even into the courts!

 

I see while I was typing Mirror added a question that has come up before...

I personally believe the national locals are working well, and hope that more of the Locals will be merged and nationalized!  Camera and Sound,  Grip and Electric, all the vanities, all the builders, etc.  more Locals with nationwide jurisdiction over their crafts.

Edited by studiomprd
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" personally believe the national locals are working well, and hope that more of the Locals will be merged and nationalized!  Camera and Sound,  Grip and Electric, all the vanities, all the builders, etc.  more Locals with nationwide jurisdiction over their crafts."

 

To logical.

CrewC

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Mirror, you were right to call me out on saying "since THAT won't happen, neither will the stronger Basic Agreement be applied to all."  I really should not be that pessimistic.  Certainly the Producers would not be quick to agree with it... and it could not happen if they didn't agree because they have to sign the Contract... but if it were actually possible that everybody was fully committed to making the stronger and better Contract the only Contract, then the Producers wouldn't have much choice.

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RVD said: "I'm still baffled by what is meant by jurisdiction in regards to where members live, and who represents them." The confusion still remains regarding the word "jurisdiction" and how it is implemented and administered and how it affect where and how we work. When I talked about working all over the States and the world, I really was sort of ignoring the whole jurisdiction thing because whatever it is, however it was being implemented, it never really seemed to be a factor in the work. As you also stated: "Now our rates, and the overtime structure remained the same, no meal penalties were paid, and they did contribute to our pension and H&W plans" and I guess that was all that was important to me even when working in some other jurisdiction.

 

I think rather than relentlessly trying to clarify what jurisdiction really means, we might better off focusing on how things are being done today regarding the various locals, where we work and so forth. Also, there has been all this talk about the Locals "supporting" the members --- this has to be clarified also. Adding to all of this, there is the overall issue of who is really benefitting from the incentives. The lofty notion that the incentives (funded by ALL taxpayers in the state) paid to an employer to compel them to hire crew members (a sub-set of the state's population) is somehow returned to the state by these crew members making money and paying taxes locally --- it's a lot to consider.

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JW: " The lofty notion that the incentives (funded by ALL taxpayers in the state) paid to an employer to compel them to hire crew members (a sub-set of the state's population) is somehow returned to the state by these crew members making money and paying taxes locally --- it's a lot to consider. "

yes it is lofty, and a lot to consider; keep in mind that movie production incentives are not unique, and states have been offering incentives to other industries, -many other industries-, and even special incentives and/or perks to specific companies, as well...

(and my home town Cleveland just "won" the Republican convention, while my current town LAX is once again bidding for the Olympics... and Honolulu/Hawai'i built a convention center to woo that business...  nothing new to see here, move along!)

" this talk about the Locals "supporting" the members " a good example of this can be found in the current 695 trusteeship, a result, it seems, of (among other things) L695 supporting a member working on a production out of town in NoLa...

I think the Local does an appropriate job of supporting its members, all of them, when they are working under it's (the Local's) jurisdiction (contractual, not geographical!)

and again: " returned to the state by these crew members making money and paying taxes locally "

not just paying taxes, but spending locally, be it on a new car, groceries, or a hotel room... and not just the crew members spending locally, but the production spending money (besides payroll) in a locality...

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