The IATSE Quadrennial Convention is just one month away where the future of our international union is at stake. Yet there hasn't been an announcement of any public forum to update us Local 700 members about what is at stake. As of the writing of this petition on June 23rd, a much smaller local (Local 705) is holding their own town hall today to talk about what their delegates are going to support. Giving the members of Local 700 the chance to openly discuss our priorities with each other not only strengthens our union by educating ourselves about important topics, it also provides a space for members to hold constructive conversations with other members. Wouldn't it make sense for a large local like MPEG with a large voting block within IATSE to hold a town hall?

What is the IATSE Quadrennial Convention?

This convention happens every four years where delegates across the US and Canada convene in one place to vote on many important matters that relate to the IA, including voting into office the next international IATSE president and making changes/amendments to the international constitution.

Why is holding a town hall important for Local 700 members?

Thanks to the organizing that the Caucus of Rank-and-File Entertainment Workers (CREW) has been doing, there are delegates across the US and Canada that are debating within their own local about certain resolutions like the hybrid convention resolution from the STAND Platform set forth by CREW. Here is the full resolution from the CREW website: 

As we saw with the 2021 Quadrennial Convention during the COVID pandemic, IATSE is capable of running a hybrid convention with remote attendance and remote voting. It’s time that we made this the norm for all of IATSE’s conventions for many reasons. First, it is inherently disenfranchising to delegates who are pregnant, disabled, have caretaker obligations, or family obligations, to require that they attend conventions and vote in person. It’s a health risk for pregnant and immunocompromised delegates to get on a plane, rendering them unable to serve their union. It’s unfair to locals with less funding and to members in general to have to pay for the cost of sending their entire delegation to a remote location, or to be forced to send less delegates than they are entitled to send simply to save money. Having the option to attend and vote remotely would save member dues that could be better spent elsewhere, and allow all types of delegates regardless of their situation to properly represent their members.

Source: https://www.iatsecrew.com/stand/remote-attendance

This is not some radical change. This is a common sense reform that makes it easier for us rank and file members to have more direct communication with our leadership and how our union is run. 

Why Would This Benefit Local 700?

Our membership is declining at a record pace that our local has never seen in our history as a guild. Why haven't our delegates been given the chance to have public conversations with members that can't make the Quadrennial Convention? They are representing over 8000 members and without any opportunities to discuss issues with the membership, how can they possibly know what they should be talking about with other delegates at the convention? 

With the existential threat to the labor movement from the Trump administration, will we even have the chance to collectively bargain with the AMPTP by the next Quadrennial Convention? 

Source: https://www.americanprogress.org/article/the-trump-administration-ended-collective-bargaining-for-1-million-federal-workers/

By signing this petition, we the members of Local 700, ask Scott George and our delegates to hold a town hall. We would like to propose these dates for such an event to occur:

Monday, June 30th 6pm PST/9pm EST

Monday, July 7th 6pm PST/9pm EST

This town hall will give an opportunity for membership to discuss about status of where Local 700 stands in supporting the hybrid convention resolution and making the IA more democratic.