THE NEXT REGULAR MEETING WILL BE THURSDAY JULY 3, 2008 AT 1:00 PM IN THE STUDIOPLEX COMMON ROOM.  PLEASE MAKE AN EFFORT TO ATTEND. THE EXECUTIVE BOARD MEETING WILL BE THURSDAY JULY 3, 2008 AT 11:00 AM IN THE UNION OFFICE AT 659 AUBURN AVENUE SUITE 221.

JULY BIRTHDAYS

Jamie Beard, Corrine Butler, Dave Fedack, James Fowler, Lee Freeman, Jarrod Humphrey, Kerry Keenan, Jason Lewis, Brad McWhorter, Morgan Ryan, Jerry Snyder, Jason Vargas. We hope you all have a great one!

SEVENTH DISTRICT MEETING

On June 27-29, we will be hosting the Seventh District convention at the Sheraton Downtown at Courtland and International.  There are volunteer opportunities throughout the weekend including runners, hospitality, set up and more.  Gary Cameron is coordinating the scheduling so please contact him if you are interested and thanks to everyone who has helped out so far.  President Short and Vice Presidents Matt Loeb and Walter Cahill will be in attendance along with representatives from locals throughout the south.

You have several opportunities to partake in the activities.  On Friday there is a hospitality room from 7-9 PM where you can meet some of the delegates.  There are two education classes, one on how to run a union election and the other on getting out the vote, union style.  One class will be Friday afternoon and the other will be Saturday afternoon.  On Saturday night is the PAC Fund dinner.  This is a fundraiser for the IATSE Political Action Fund.  Because of a screwy election law, unions can not directly contribute to political campaigns like corporations and employers can.  For this reason, we have to donate funds to the PAC which then doles money out to candidates that we support.  Georgia is going to have a few tight congressional races in Savannah and Macon as well as a senate seat and the presidential race.  By attending the PAC fund dinner, you can help support the IA and its mission to get labor friendly representatives elected.  The dinner is Saturday evening from 7-10 PM.  Tickets are a minimum of $25 for local members.  You can give more to the PAC fund if you wish.  Our goal is to raise $4000.  So please consider dressing up and taking a night on the town for a good cause.

On Sunday morning at 8 AM there will be a caucus concerning the strategy for combating Crew One throughout the region.  We need to stop Crew One in Atlanta, Memphis, Nashville, Chattanooga and wherever else this cancer exists.  We will be getting together with locals throughout the region to discuss and plan.  Members interested in finding out more are welcome to attend and listen to our discussion.

We have been working hard to make Atlanta Shine and we hope that this event will be a great success.

CREW ONE PICKETING

For those who had not heard, Angus Sinex, a gaffer and electrician, was recently killed while working TNA Wrestling, a Crew One event outside of Memphis.  He was working for Christie Lights when some scaffolding collapsed and sent him down about 30 feet to the deck.  This is the second entertainment death in the Mississippi part of greater Memphis in six weeks.  The other was a rigger who worked for Crew One but was not on a Crew One event when he fell to his death at an outdoor amphitheatre.  In Atlanta, Crew One is hiring people off the street with no experience at all to do events in our jurisdiction.  We have to put a stop to this. The local pledged support from our defense fund to fight Crew One and we also need you to come out in force.  We are working on an informational picketing program, a press guide and an organizing campaign.  We will need all these components and more to be successful.  You will be asked to give up some time to assist in this.  It is expected that every member will be asked to participate in picketing at some point.  This is the down and dirty part of unionism but it is also the way we get people in the public to understand what we do and why we do it.

T-SHIRTS

The Local is running short on T-shirts for sale we only have some in odd sizes left.  But do not despair.  Br. Rodney Amos has stock of new shirts for sale.  For just $15, you can get a shirt with an embroidered 927 bug.  He has colors and sizes to choose from and he would be happy to sell you a quality union made shirt to wear on a job site or picket line.  The word is that all the fashionable members are adding these stylish tees to their wardrobe.

THREE MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONS

James Dornemann, Robbie Stafford and David Wilson all presented applications that were read at the June meeting.  In July, those applications will be read again and voted on.  All three individuals are quality stagehands.  Mr. Dornemann comes to us from Local One where he worked for the Metropolitan Opera for years.  Mr. Stafford is a road sound engineer who has settled in Atlanta.  He works extensively with us in the theaters.  Mr. Wilson is a former member from way (way…way) back.  He took a hiatus and is reapplying for reinstatement.

RAND KNIGHT, CANDIDATE FOR U. S. SENATE

The following is a letter from Rand Knight.  He is the labor endorsed candidate for U. S. Senate.  He is running against Saxby Chambliss.  Mr. Knight is committed to helping working people and, if elected will improve the chances that the senate stays in democratic hands.  The primary is July 15.  Come out and vote!

A Commitment to Fighting for Georgia’s Workers

Rand Knight recognizes the economic decline that is happening in the United States and the problems facing American Workers.  Now is the time for America to turn to domestic energy sources in order to curb our dependence on foreign oil and stimulate our economy. This can be done through the growth of “Green-Collar Jobs”.  As an Ecologist and Forester with a business background, Rand Knight is prepared to establish Georgia as an Alternative Energy Resource for the state, as well as the nation, which would put us at the forefront of the country’s next major Industrial Revolution- “The Green Deal”.

1.)  Creating “Green-Collar” Jobs—Green-Collar jobs are family-supporting, career-track jobs that anchor the middle-class and are in the industries of the future.  Green jobs exist in manufacturing, construction, operations and maintenance, and new installations of water and electrical-power infrastructure.  Retrofitting buildings for energy and water-efficiency; building new, energy efficient mass transportation networks; building cars that are plug-in hybrids and that run on clean energy;  revolutionizing energy and focusing on solar, wind and hydro power as well as biofuels are all examples of green jobs that build green profits and green savings.  Every dollar we invest in Green-Collar jobs will strengthen the middle class, reduce carbon pollution, improve quality of life and provide a federal and local tax base to pay for healthcare, Social Security, education and infrastructure, which, in turn, will generate more jobs. This process will help our people and allow our country to pay down our debt.

2.)  Amending Current Trade Agreements—The solutions to climate change and building Green-Collar Jobs are inextricably linked to global trade.  One practice, that we must cease, is exporting our jobs. We have to use our own borders to challenge the injustices of free trade.  American workers are losing their jobs and the corporations have no regard for labor rights or environmental standards in the countries to which the jobs are being shipped.  We need to stop giving tax breaks to companies for shipping their jobs overseas and we need to stop allowing tariff free imports to countries who charge us a tariff for our exports.  Our trading partners must manufacture as cleanly as our laws require, we have the leverage-it is our market.  Cap and trade must require that our trading partners meet our standards— the standards of a new green economy- otherwise corporations will continue to ship jobs off shores.

“The time is now when we must forge a revolution in Job Growth through sweeping investments in energy efficiency, the commercialization of renewable energy and new technologies to sustainably harvest natural resources.  We must nurture new job growth that pays family-supporting, living wages through state-of-the-art training that the Labor Unions can help to provide.”

3.) Revitalizing Georgia’s Abandoned Resources—The now shuttered and rusting manufacturing plants scattered across rural Georgia can be turned back into thriving businesses—which employ union workers, producing energy for our citizens and weaning us off of foreign oil and non-renewable resources that we import from outside our country. Green-Collar workers would be guaranteed more than the prevailing wage and the right to organize without restriction.  Rand Knight’s expertise in the fields of energy and business set him apart as being uniquely prepared for creation and implementation of these new kinds of jobs, and Rand faces the challenges confronting us with irrepressible optimism

We are spending billions of dollars to fight the war in Iraq and our government cannot invest in our economy by creating new jobs. Not until we end this war and begin to re-prioritize our investments, can we then begin to rebuild the fractured economy. In the great state of Georgia, we have an opportunity to create an abundance of jobs through alternative energy.  Rand Knight knows investing in Alternative Energy and Green Jobs is the only way to ensure that we will, once again, see our economy thrive.

As a U.S. Senator, Rand Knight will:

Protect the right to collective bargaining!

 Support Mirror Trade Agreements—this means any country with whom we trade must abide by the same Environmental standards and Labor Standards  as the United States.

       Stand with Labor on the issues of Banning Striker Replacement, Davis-Bacon, Safety Standards and striking down renewals for NAFTA &  WTO.

       Vote to Abolish the Runaway Tax Credit—giving business tax incentives to send jobs overseas has put a great number of Americans out of work, we  need  to put a stop to this practice.

       Protect pensions and healthcare for all citizens, while indexing minimum wage to inflation.

       Support the Employee Free Choice Act, so workers have the choice to organize without the fear of persecution or harassment.

   Vote to oppose the Bush Tax Cuts—which were unfair, fiscally irresponsible, and didn’t create economic growth – with the tax cuts tied specifically to job creation.

Knight for U.S. Senate

3340 Peachtree Rd. NE Suite 1800, Atlanta, GA 30326

404.254.2870   info@knightforsenate.com www.KnightforSenate.com

Mr. Knight is one of many candidates supported by the Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council and the Georgia state AFL-CIO.  For a complete list or to find a candidate in your district, please stop by the office and consult the list of labor endorsed candidates.

BALLET CONTRACT

The move of the ballet to Cobb County will require us to create a new contract with the Atlanta Ballet to cover theater work in the CEPAC.  The business agent is asking any members interested in assisting in the creation of a ballet theater agreement to get in touch with him so that he can add your ideas to the agreement that will be presented to the Ballet.  When the Ballet went to the CEPAC this spring, we did a one off agreement but we need to negotiate a term agreement going forward.

MICROSOFT

By now everyone knows that Microsoft is coming back to Atlanta this summer.  What many of you do not know is that it will take place at Phillips arena and will be smaller that in past years.  We are looking at around 100 positions.  Since the principals are the same, there will be some heavy requesting of members and referrals who worked this event in the past.  If you do not get a Microsoft call, all is not lost.  There are other venues that need to be covered and there is other work around.  We have had many new referrals join our list thinking that there will be lots of Microsoft work.  This may not be the case.  We are working to secure as much of the work as we can and we added the rigging to our call this year.  Moving forward we need to work on the A/V and the break out rooms.

FOOD DRIVE

The Atlanta North Georgia Labor Council Community Service and Events Committee is sponsoring a canned food drive throughout the month of July.  We will place a container at the Union Hall so that you can donate food for those less fortunate.  Summer is a particularly difficult time for food banks.  Children are out of school and do not get the breakfast and lunch that is often provided as part of the school day.  The Food bank provides families and community groups additional support during these trying, hot summer months.  So, if you have a check to pick up or you are coming to the July meeting, consider bringing something for the food bank.  Canned goods, drinks and everything except perishable food items will be accepted.  Take a moment to clean out your pantry of food that you bought and are not eating.  Pass it along to people in need.  We will be transporting all that we collect to the Labor council on Saturday August 2.

ROB RUSSELL ESTA CERTIFIED ELECTRICIAN

Br. Robert Russell is our first ESTA Certified electrician.  After months of study and hard work, Br. Russell recently passed the entertainment electrician’s exam.  He joins Br. Bob Foreman who passed the theatrical rigger’s exam earlier this year.  In the coming months many more members are planning to attempt to pass one of the ESTA exams.  The Fox has offered assistance to some of the members/referrals on the Fox list as an incentive to take the test.

ESTA Certification is great for our members.  It shows we are serious about being the most qualified hands available.  It also gives us a new title that we can use to bargain for more money for certified individuals.  ESTA certification may soon be required in many venue agreements and those individuals should command a higher wage.

LABOR FILM FESTIVAL FOR SEPTEMBER

The third annual Labor Film Series will again take place Thursdays in September.  We are working with Traci Drummond, the Southern Labor Archivist at Georgia State University to find four films that speak to either the issues or the history of the labor movement.  We are also trying to find locals interested in sponsoring an evening and getting their members out in force.  Currently the IA is considering screening “The Cradle Will Rock”.  This film portrays the struggle to perform a controversial play in New York during the great depression.  It confronts the issues of the make works projects of the WPA, arts censorship and governmental control of them.  It follows the company as they defy the ban by our government and the performance of their parts from the house of a rented theater.  It marked the beginning of careers for Orson Wells, John Houseman and others.

In the past we have shown films about A. Phillip Randolph, Martin Luther King and the Memphis trash collectors strike, “Norma Rae”, “Sicko” and others.  The films are shown at the IBEW auditorium on Pulliam Street and are free to the public.  We need volunteers to assist with the operation of the equipment and the set up and take down.  If you are interested or have questions or suggestions, please contact Neil Gluckman.

TURN OUT BETTER FOR JUNE MEETING

Thanks to all the members who attended the June meeting.  You are awesome.  We had so many in attendance that we moved the meeting to the Common Room.  We got through a lot of business including giving our office manager a much needed raise and voting to start the campaign against Crew One.  Let’s not lose that momentum.  Our next meeting is Thursday July 3^rd.  It is the day before the holiday.  If you are in town that day I strongly urge you to attend.  You will hear about the outcome of the Seventh District Convention, Microsoft and maybe a surprise or two concerning CEPAC.  In addition we need a quorum to vote on the three applications mentioned above.

THIRD QUARTER DUES

July is the beginning of the third quarter.  Dues are $60 per quarter and are due on the first day of the quarter (January 1, April 1, July 1, October 1).  You have fifteen days to pay your dues.  After that you are late and you owe an additional $10 late fee.  IF you pay by the quarter, now is the time to get by the office with a check, and maybe some cans of food, a suggestion for the film festival or for the Ballet agreement.  Enjoy the beginning of summer and do good work.