Local 600 Leaders Vote to Waive Dues for Members Hit by Strike

As hundreds of Local 600 members prepared to get back to work after the end of the WGA strike, the union’s National Executive Board voted on Feb. 16 to waive quarterly dues during the first quarter of 2008 for those hit by the three-month work stoppage.

Dues will be waived for members who were in good standing at the time of the strike and have experienced financial hardship because of it. The executive board overwhelmingly passed the motion, with only one dissenting vote.

“The last 100 days have been really difficult for our members,” President Steven Poster said at the National Executive Board Meeting held Feb. 16-17 in Los Angeles. “$1.3 billion has been lost in wages and benefits for all IATSE members. We directed our staff to coordinate with the AFL-CIO, the Actors Fund and the Motion Picture and Television Fund so our members would have access to mortgage assistance, utility assistance and grants and loans.”

Poster expressed hope that Screen Actors Guild and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers would begin early negotiations and quell fears of an actors strike.

Local 600 assistant Dave Hirschmann said he had hoped the union would help the membership out by waiving dues. “Every little bit counts,” he said.

The executive board also voted unanimously to overhaul the Local 600 computer system in order to provide members with standard online features, including the ability to pay dues online, check hours, access the directory online and change passwords. Because of the union’s current antiquated system, members will have to wait 4-6 weeks to receive their rebates.

“It’s about the members,” Secretary Treasurer Alan Gitlin said before the vote. “We need to do this to make us more responsive to the members’ needs. I urge you to move all to make history and move us into the 21st century.”

Poster said he would plan more meetings for members by classification, including digital classifications, to address their common issues. He also voiced the need for 3-D training for members, saying the new technology was coming down like a speeding train.