# IATSE



## JustinTech (Jan 29, 2010)

Hello all,
In my Stage Management class we have recently been talking about Equity and SSD&C and such. But seeing as I want to be a TD, I was wondering more information on IATSE. I have went to the IATSE main site, but couldn't come across very much useful information outside of contact info for the districts. 

I searched online for District 6 and 31, (Class S for St. Louis and KC respectively) without having found a site for them. 

The main things I was wondering is Initial Cost and Quarterly/Yearly Dues cost. And where I could find a Handbook online of Rule, Procedures and By-Laws.

If anyone can help me with this it would be greatly appreciated.

Justin W. Crouch


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## Footer (Jan 29, 2010)

Unlike AEA, IA rules can differ greatly local to local. Local 6 in St. Louis is a fairly well established hall with a pretty firm rule book/contracts. Some of the smaller IA halls have rules that can vary wildly from the larger halls. IA works on a contract basis. The "rules" for any call are built into the contract and can change depending on the contract. It is in the contract where breaktimes, minimum people to be at a call, if a BA needs to be present, and all of that fun stuff get spelled out. Even in one city, each venue will have a different contract with the IA hall. There is no definitive law as to how the hall operates. There are well known standards, but there is no defacto standard. 

Unlike AEA, IA acts more like a regular labor union like IBEW or the teamsters. It is divided up into locals where AEA is a national organization. 

Here is a typical contract that is used at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA.


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## mstaylor (Jan 29, 2010)

As Kyle says it varies greatly from local to local and even venue to venue. The cost for intial membership and yearly dues also are very different around the country. Some places your card is a couple of hundred and others it can be as much as $2000.00. The standards for your levels are very different also. Unfortunately there isn't a standard answer to your question. The best thing to do is go on there main website and get the number of your local and call the BA for information.


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## JustinTech (Jan 29, 2010)

Thank you two very much. That answers a few questions and helps shed some light on things.

Justin


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## Goph704 (Jan 29, 2010)

Hi
I'm a part time worker from the Charlotte Local IA . There are couple of things you might also want to be aware of, as I doubt any college class has covered a any of this stuff. Please remember I can only speak to my local there are many people out there whose locals work differently. 
First off, here at least there is a minimum time limit requirement in my local before you can apply for a card. Your required to work with the local for a minimum number of hours or a given time period before you can even apply to take the test. It can vary from a few months to at least 2 years, perhaps even more. 
Second, is that the Union is at least in your first few years is not steady work. You begin on a general call list and then work your way up the more calls you take the higher up the list you can go. Lists are usually alphabetical with A-list people called first and lower list people called last. Some call lists are based on seniority and others are based on merit, but nobody just walks into the A-list, and very rarely does joining the union ( at least here) mean a 40 hour a week job. I have gone an entire month without work, and then turned around and worked a 72 hour week. It does vary depending on where you work and how available you are. 
Third, your not going to just be doing theater. You work Rock concerts Corporate events, dance shows, Circus acts, ( I even did a wedding once, I'd hate to see the bill from it.) Usually, your not required to be as creative as you are in theater, even though again I imagine that can change from Local to Local. IA is not the designer's Union, USAA is, something to keep in mind. I think as a T.D. doing some work with your Local is a great idea, since you really have to be versatile in your work approach and knowledge base. I'm an electrician, but I've been called into do everything from video to painting and in the Local I work in you don't really know jack until you've tried it all. 
Fourth the union operates on a per call basis and per call usually is a four hour minimum. This means if you get on a call list, Your B.A. will call you and you go to whatever address he/she sends you to and you will be paid for at least four hours of work (differs per contract) Some time you will be cut early and sometimes you will get to stay longer. It varies because you work to suite the needs of the show. Most load-ins around here are about 4-5 hours with a 2 hour show call and a 4 hour out. 
I hope that this one example from a Union helps. I feel that a lot of college students get really turned off to IATSE because they don't understand it very well. Being a card holder lets you go on tour, save up for retirement, and have decent health plan to fall back on. The draw back are they schedule is a night mare and pay can be incredible or non existant.
Most college programs are geared towards that highly sought after "House job" which is much more secure than working IA. However a lot of the guys who have those jobs have worked for the Union at some point, a lot of house jobs require some sort of Union Background. Ask around. While the Union may not be where you want to stay for your entire life it is a way to get you towards where your going. 
Personally I love working for the IATSE and intend to be come a Card holder in the next few months. That combined with my freelance L.D work gives me a reasonable yearly salary. It's not amazing but it's not horrible either. If you want to do some more research on the St. Louis Local check out sites like You Tube or PLSN. For some reason I think that St. Louis may have survived the GNR riot in the 90's. I think a few of the people who post after me may have completely different Union experiences, But I thought this might be helpful as an example. 
( _to any of the IA brotherhood out there I've tried to be careful not to mention the sacred initiation rights the kissing of the ring, or the magical sheep_.?) Hope this helps.
P.S Your first call you will push boxes. Your second call you will push boxes, your third call you will..... get the picture?


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## ajb (Jan 29, 2010)

Your decision on whether or not IA is right for you will depend on your local market as well. The DC metro area, for instance, currently has 74 producing companies listed in the Helen Hayes Directory. Only fully professional producing companies are eligible, so that does not include educational, community, or partly volunteer theaters, or pure road houses of which there are plenty. Out of all the 100 or so institutions where you could get a job as a TD, only a handful (6 from the Helen Hayes list) are union. And I could be wrong, but I think at several of those the IA contract does not include management staff (TD, PM, etc).


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## Footer (Jan 29, 2010)

ajb said:


> Out of all the 100 or so institutions where you could get a job as a TD, only a handful (6 from the Helen Hayes list) are union. And I could be wrong, but I think at several of those the IA contract does not include management staff (TD, PM, etc).



Very rarely will a position that requires a degree in theatre also require IA membership. That is not at all a rule, there are plenty of people with masters degrees out there that are great IA members. Usually management are not IA. This includes the TD/PM/APM. Those positions are usually salaried. 

One other thing to mention.... there is another way to get in besides the "work your way up" way. If you are hired on with a company that has a union contract, they can sponsor you into a hall. Nearly all of my friends who are IA hands went this way. They are now all out on yellow card tours. 

Keep in mind that not all houses are IA. If you move south to right to work states, IA is there, but it is extremely weak. Companies like Crew One also bid on contracts and have deplorable work practices such as 1099 all crew and all kinds of fun stuff like that.


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## WDS (Feb 27, 2010)

I worked with Local 6 quite a bit in college both through school and during the summers. Webster University has a deal with the local allowing conservatory students to work load-ins and strikes for Opera Theater and The Rep and I got to be fairly good friends with many of the shop guys.
Like several others have mentioned, you can't just apply and pay your dues and you get a card. You have to work a certain number of calls (i think 40 a year for 4 years but don't quote me) before you get your card. You can get voted in earlier but this is very hard to do for most people. Local 6 is very established with many of it's members coming from families that can trace their membership back several generations. Depending on the local you may have a hard time getting calls or being taken seriously unless you know a current member that can vouch for you. In St Louis, if you want to load-in shows or work as a carp an pretty much any decently sized shop you have to have a card, but like others are saying you do not have to have a card to be in management, I know of only a handful of TDs, ATDs ect that are members. With that being said, I would highly recommend doing some overhire calls. Like any organization there are members who got where they are because of who they know and not what they know but I have a deep respect for many of the guys. You will find some incredibly sharp stagehands that have probably forgotten more about building sets than you know right now and will be more than willing to teach you some of what they know for a beer or two. I can also pretty much guarantee that you will deal with IATSE at some point in your career and working a few calls will give you valuable insight into how the union works.
A few things to keep in mind. first , outside of a tour, a card from an out of town local will not necessarily help you. If you move to another town then it might help you move up the list faster but that really depends on your new local and your previous locals reputation (ie a Local 1 card will probably carry more weight then a Local 9999 from who knows where.) As far as I know there are no rules mandating that you can transfer membership from local to local. Second, if you get a card be aware that depending on the local and your state you might not be able to work non union gigs anymore. This is not true for all locals but it could hurt you if you are starting out and are unaware. Different organization, but I know several people starting out that have rushed to get their Equity card only to realize that they can no longer take the Non-Equity gigs that have previously been paying the rent but they don't yet have enough steady Equity work to get by on.
Locals vary greatly and I can only speak about my experience but if you are intrested in being a TD then a card is not necessarily mandatory but I would recommend at least signing up for a few calls.


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## jstroming (Feb 27, 2010)

HAHA somebody has a bone to pick with Crew One.......I'm doing a show with them now, nice guys, great safe setup!


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## Footer (Feb 28, 2010)

jstroming said:


> HAHA somebody has a bone to pick with Crew One.......I'm doing a show with them now, nice guys, great safe setup!



Besides that they have 0 liability if a person gets hurt on the job. Someone who walks in off the street who has never been to a call should not be soley responsible for their own safety. 1099 employees is the most deplorable practice any company can do. It is there to hire legit independent contractors who have their own company and liability, it is not meant to be a loophole to get a tax break and not properly back your employees. 

Tragedy at TNA Slammiversary | The Sun |Sport|Wrestling

This incident took place with crew 1 onsite. This followed another incident under the same company 3 months earlier that also lead to a death.


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## Wolf (Feb 28, 2010)

WDS said:


> As far as I know there are no rules mandating that you can transfer membership from local to local.



So how do you get into the union when you do move to another city? Are you considered not in the union and have to retake the test?


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## jstroming (Feb 28, 2010)

I know I'm going to get chewed out here (being that there probably aren't many people on this site who agree with me haha) but I don't see anything wrong with 1099'ing an employee. I worked for a company that had guys come work for a 3-day gig in the busy season, then try to collect unemployment for 6 months afterwards. I wasn't in management at that point, and I thought it was just as outrageous as management did. They never collected, but it was still annoying to have to file with the state, show up in court if the individual countered, who wants to go through that hassle? When people don't play fair, how can you expect an employer to just bend over like that?

The bigger question here is where the line between personal and corporate liability is drawn. Naturally, many stagehands would like for there to be zero legal personal responsibility, and many corporations the opposite. I tend to 
think that there has to be SOME personal responsibility when you sign a contract. Haha thats why you sign a contract, if you dont agree or understand it, don't sign it!!!! Get another job! If your arguement is that some stagehands aren't smart or educated enough to know what they're signing.....is that the employer's fault?

And as far as your link of the accident, most every company in the history of this industry has had accidents. I can think of several rigging accidents under IA crews that SHOULDN'T have happened.

I like Crew One...I have a load-out here in ATL (which is freakin freezing by the way) in about 2 hours, so everybody keep me in your prayers!!!  HAHA just kidding....Different people have different opinions though....some people love/hate PRG, Rhino, Crew One, etc....to each his own!

Not trying to argue here...just trying to present a different perspective!


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## WDS (Feb 28, 2010)

I believe that it depends entirely on the local, some might let you just take the test. some might move you up to the top of the list or it might not count at all. I'm definitely not the expert when it comes to the minutiae of IATSE by-laws. There might be someone in IA on this site that can better answer that question.


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## Pie4Weebl (Feb 28, 2010)

It's really easy to get into local six, the entrance exam is only two questions long! 

1.Who's your dad?
2.How's he doing?

Unless they are slammed, if you don't know someone you aren't getting in. But they do employ some of most talented techs I have ever met. I never cease to be amazed by some of their stories from days past. 

In STL you can also go play with a large non-union labor, Klance. You probably will have an easier time getting in with them if you want random work, but the pay is considerably less.


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## Footer (Mar 1, 2010)

Pie4Weebl said:


> 1.Who's your dad?
> 2.How's he doing?



I have friends from HS who wanted to stay in the area but left because they could not get into IA. My TD in HS was a card carrier in local 6 in the late 70's/early 80's and left after his son was born. His son has a degree and wants to get into the union but can't because his dad is no longer active. Its annoying. I tried to get on the list numerous times but never succeeded. One more reason I left St. Louis.


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