On the surface, it doesn’t seem like last year’s TAG-hosted Halloween party has anything in common with this summer’s IATSE’s 69th Quadrennial Convention. One was inundated with sugared-up kids in costumes. The other featured delegates from local unions throughout the U.S. and Canada voting on resolutions that can affect the jobs of 150,000 union members.
In fact, there are strong common threads, and they all help tie the knot of solidarity that gives unions as a collective body their strength.
“What I found most valuable about attending the 2019 District 2 Convention was the sense of perspective that I gained just from meeting other Locals. It’s easy to feel like our problems are uniquely insurmountable, but lucky for us that isn’t always true!”—Danny Ducker, 2019 D2 Delegate
When TAG’s Family and Membership Committee came up with the idea for a drive-through, trunk-or-treat Halloween party, they joined forces with the Affiliated Property Craftspersons Guild, Motion Picture Costumers Guild, and Costume Designers Guild. It was about more than just offering a little relief from the pandemic. Families from numerous Hollywood IATSE Locals showed up, and it was a reminder during that isolating time that local unions are not islands unto themselves.
Each Local might have its own unique issues, but that doesn’t mean one’s needs—or one’s solutions—aren’t relevant to the others. “It’s good for us to reach out and look at what’s happening outside of our own Local, because very often the issues we’re experiencing—other Locals are experiencing, too,” says Teri Hendrich Cusumano, chair of TAG’s Color Designer Committee. “Instead of trying to work on an issue in your corner and everyone else kind of doing the same, it’s usually more effective if you come together to work on your common problems. You don’t know if they exist until you reach out to those other members.”
That outreach essentially occurs in three ways. The most formal is the International Quadrennial Convention, which takes place every four years and includes IATSE’s largest legislative body. “This is where the [multi-union] membership as a whole really gets to weigh in on matters that affect them,” says TAG Business Representative Steve Kaplan. “The international constitution is reopened. The international executive body is reelected. It’s a pretty heady thing to be a part of.”
Next is the annual IATSE District 2 Convention, which represents 49 locals with approximately 45,000 members in California, Arizona, Nevada, and Hawai‘i. Cusumano says this is another clear way to support each other, “especially when each Local might bring forth a resolution, and they’re asking other Locals for support on that resolution.”
Not everyone can be an executive board member or convention delegate or even attendee, though. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t ways to band together and effect change beyond the politics and the bargaining table.
For example, pay inequities between typically male- and female-dominated jobs need to be addressed in negotiations, but reshaping the makeup of these jobs is something any TAG member can help with—especially when it’s done in partnership with members from other Locals.
Cusumano describes a presentation, hosted by the District 2 Women’s Committee, that addressed how women typically put themselves at a disadvantage in the workplace by using qualifying language that makes them sound less certain. The committee is now exploring workshops to empower women to run for union leadership positions.
These actions—while not formal—can lead to a concrete effect on the workplace, but they can’t occur if Locals don’t join forces, combine resources, and unite for a common purpose. Yes, even a Halloween party. By creating strong relationships in more casual ways, members like Kristin Donner, one of the event’s organizers and chair of the TAG Family and Membership Committee, are able to garner stronger support for serious issues, like the need to cover Spectrum Disorders by the Motion Picture Industry Health Plans.
In short, working together on the ground with other locals can create a trickle up effect as common needs are identified and solidarity is established to support action on those needs.
And as Nicole Miller notes, a win for one can serve as a guide for all. President of AAE Local B-192 and District 2 Coordinator, IATSE Women’s Committee, she identifies a recent WGA success of getting paid family leave into their bargaining agreement. This, she says, is when Locals need to talk each other. Share the language they used in their negotiations, Kaplan adds. “[Not just discuss] what they have achieved, but how.”
“It makes a world of difference,” Miller says, pointing out that even if an action or an event may not always address a universal need, in the end, everyone will benefit.
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