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The Hardline / Play nice with other unions, or don't get involved?
« on: Sep 08, 2014, 02:59 pm »
I was once in a sticky situation, and was wondering what everyone's tactic would be if they had this problem.
Worked a small regional theater which happens to have an IATSE crew, I'm an AEA SM. When I published the tech schedule for our production, I was asked by my boss to remove someone from the e-mail distribution because they were "no longer on the show." That person, it turns out, is the IATSE steward for the theater. They were very much still the steward for that space.
So, I reached out to the steward to find out (surprise, surprise) there is a very long and tense history between producers and IA. I decided to still be in communication with the steward because it best served the crew who I had to work with on a daily basis. I removed them from the general distro, but sent them schedules so they were still in the loop about crew hours/calls.
In my opinion it is ethically responsible to be forthcoming with other unions, even if my management is not. However, this may sour any future employment with me and this company in the future (which doesn't really bother me).
I know labor disputes are very common, especially with small companies. Do you often just choose to not get involved? I know if this was a SDC or designer dispute I would feel weird about it, but for some reason because it is IATSE crew that I worked with 8 shows a week, I felt the need to keep in communication.
Thoughts?
Worked a small regional theater which happens to have an IATSE crew, I'm an AEA SM. When I published the tech schedule for our production, I was asked by my boss to remove someone from the e-mail distribution because they were "no longer on the show." That person, it turns out, is the IATSE steward for the theater. They were very much still the steward for that space.
So, I reached out to the steward to find out (surprise, surprise) there is a very long and tense history between producers and IA. I decided to still be in communication with the steward because it best served the crew who I had to work with on a daily basis. I removed them from the general distro, but sent them schedules so they were still in the loop about crew hours/calls.
In my opinion it is ethically responsible to be forthcoming with other unions, even if my management is not. However, this may sour any future employment with me and this company in the future (which doesn't really bother me).
I know labor disputes are very common, especially with small companies. Do you often just choose to not get involved? I know if this was a SDC or designer dispute I would feel weird about it, but for some reason because it is IATSE crew that I worked with 8 shows a week, I felt the need to keep in communication.
Thoughts?