AFTRA, IATSE Working to Rebuild Middle Class
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In the midst of an economic downturn, two entertainment unions reaffirmed their commitments to rebuild the middle class by organizing and fighting for their members’ hard-earned benefits.
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka told delegates to the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) convention, which ended over the weekend, that now is the time to focus on organizing. He quoted economist John Maynard Keynes, who wrote in a 1938 letter to then-President Franklin Roosevelt that, to achieve a real recovery—a lasting recovery—the federal government had to invest in employment, production and purchasing power.
And that meant building the labor movement.
He didn’t mince any words about it: “I regard the growth of collective bargaining rights as essential.”
IATSE Signs Deal with NETworks Touring Productions
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Five highly popular touring shows are now a part of the union family. In a significant organizing win, the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) recently negotiated an agreement covering the backstage workers traveling with touring shows produced by NETworks.
NETworks previously was the most active nonunion company for touring legitimate theater productions. The five NETworks shows currently touring were nonunion, but will now be covered under a collective bargaining agreement that provides for good wages, working conditions and health and retirement benefits for stagehands, wardrobe and hair and makeup workers.
The agreement extends to current NETworks productions of “Sweeney Todd,” “The Drowsy Chaperone,” “Hairspray,” “The Wizard of Oz” and “Annie,” and into the 2009-2010 season. Additionally, there are currently seven productions planned that will be covered the following season.
