IATSE and LA County Fed Community Services Hold Workshop on Surviving Strike

IATSE in conjunction with the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor held a workshop on Friday, Jan. 4 at IATSE Local 80 in Burbank with hundreds of IATSE members on how to survive the strike. Experts from the AFL-CIO Community Services, Los Angeles Neighborhood Housing Services and the EDD advised hundreds of IATSE members on issues that included housing assistance, utility assistance and unemployment compensation. Another workshop will be offered in February with the Actors Fund and Motion Picture and Television Fund, both of which offer direct financial assistance. We will keep you posted on the upcoming workshop.

Unemployment Insurance
If you are laid off as a result of this dispute and are going to file for Unemployment compensation, remember to state your reason as “laid off due to lack of work,” not because of a strike.

Unemployment lasts up to six months in California. However, if you apply for training before your 12th week of receiving benefits, your unemployment may extend beyond that time. (Although you need to apply before your 12th week of benefits, you don’t have to take the training before then. You can apply at www.edd.ca.gov/one-stop/).

In California, members may be helped in applying for unemployment insurance by following these tips offered by EDD staff member Toi Barnett.

The phone number to apply for unemployment insurance is 800-300-5616. It may be very difficult to get through and you will have the most luck if you treat the phone call as if you were trying to win tickets on a radio station, according Barnett.  Callers will get one of several voice recordings when they call the 800 number but only one will allow you to file a claim.

If the recording begins, "Thank you ....." then hang up.
If the recording begins, "Due to the number of callers ..." then hang up.
Only if the prompt begins, "Welcome..." should you stay on the line. Once you hear this prompt, and you would like to apply for unemployment insurance, dial the number 12117 and begin.

If you would like to follow up on a claim you have already filed, dial the number 1242.

It will likely take you 10-15 minutes to get through using this method.
The EDD website is http://www.edd.ca.gov/.

Housing Assistance
Larry Reed, director of Los Angeles Housing Neighborhood Services, says there are options available to homeowners who can’t afford to pay their mortgages because of the WGA strike. Generally, those who have a solid history of paying their mortgages on time will have the best chance of working out a deal with their lenders. Those with shakier histories will have a harder time. Reed emphasizes that banks don’t want to foreclose on homes because it’s not in their financial interest.

IATSE  members, with the help of the Los Angeles Housing Neighborhood Services staff, can prepare documentation for a Lost Mitigation Package, which includes detailed employment history, paperwork that shows your credit history in making your home payments, and evidence that the strike is responsible for your current situation. (Your IATSE Local can provide a letter attesting to the strike’s effect on the membership). Freelancers may have to go back several years to provide documentation in showing their average income over the years.

The Los Angeles Housing Neighborhood Services can help you by working with you to prepare your documentation and calling on your behalf to work out a deal.

To contact the LA NHS, call 213-381-2862. The website is www.lanhs.org.

Utility Assistance
Utility Assistance is Available through the AFL-CIO Community Services. The Utility Assistance Program offers members affected by the strike up to $300 in help to pay for utilities. The service will pay up to $150 in paying bills for Southern California Edison and $150 in Southern California Gas. The program will also pay up to $150 for DWP bills but the bills must be past due.

The AFL-CIO Community Services staff will be available on Fridays from 10 am to 3 pm. at IATSE Local 80.  They will see members by appointment only. More information will be available to you on how to set up an appointment. 

More information is available at The Strike Resources section

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