Welcome To IATSE LOCAL80 MOTION PICTURE STUDIO GRIPS CRAFTS SERVICE SCENIC SERVICE EQUIPMENT SERVICE MARINE DEPARTMENT   This is the Website of Hollywood's Motion Picture Studio Grips Crafts Service Professionals Scenic Warehouse Workers & Drivers Equipment Rental Workers Marine Department Divers & Boat Personnel Men and women toiling in the underbelly of a beast to make art, for the enjoyment of civilized people the world around       Union Solidarity Means People Linked as a Chain of Steel   Workers United for Their Labor Rights "People are realizing that labor unions are the best-kept secret in America. You have no employment rights at work unless you have a collective bargaining agreement."         Want to know about the picture below? <click on it>   1945 Strike at Warner Bros. Gate 2 Security was really tight  ~ even then   Understanding the      National Labor          Relations Act and the years since After nearly a century of abuse by business and industry in America, in 1935 Congress passed the most important labor law in American history. (read more ~~ here) The  IATSE  Timeline Through UNION and             through SOLIDARITY with working people all over the planet, that is how we must meet, match and beat the business model which seeks the least positive outcome for labor everywhere. Do you want to be known as a Wal-Mart associate or as an IATSE activist? Get involved, choose now! Come to the meetings of the E-Board and General Assembly, volunteer for political action committees. Please, don't think that 5, 10, 20 years from now your work life will be the same ... it won't. Get with it. Elected officers alone aren't going to do it; all of us, WE, the members are going to do it, together ... that's what it's going to take. All of us. Nothing else will suffice. You joined the union to get a ticket to work. Now, step up and protect that ticket to your future.   GET INVOLVED    !   !   ! Click the pix above See what we Need to protect   GET INVOLVED from the ARCHITECTURAL RECORD For Construction Industry, Election Results a Mixed Bag November 6, 2008  Labor unions spent heavily to elect Democrats. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says organized labor’s top legislative priority is the Employee Free Choice Act, which would make it easier for unions to organize nonunion workers. Last year, that measure, which opponents term the “card-check bill,” easily cleared the House, but a cloture vote in the Senate failed by nine votes. AFL-CIO officials say they also plan to talk with Obama’s transition team about nominating pro-union members to the National Labor Relations Board. They also expect the new administration to revisit the issue of union-only project labor agreements on federal construction. “As an open-shop, free-enterprise contractor, I hope that we are not precluded from the new infrastructure work that will be coming,” says Mark Compton, director of government affairs for American Infrastructure, Worcester, Pa. “PLAs would certainly shut us out and not give us the ability to compete. That is what is keeping me up at night.”       Mosquito Season West Nile Virus is Here PROTECT YOUR FAMILY   Live in the hills of Los Angeles? You need to be aware of  Don't get towed away while you're at work LA CITY RED FLAG DAYS   Is Today A City of Los Angeles Red Flag Day click the flag to find out Other Red Flag Warnings for California   These are the latest units as of  June ‘08 that can be rigged & cribbed  & These are the approved units as of May '04 that can be rigged & cribbed  Link to the Condor Section ( here )   Yes, once it was just 27.9¢ a gallon !! Find cheap gas <here> or <here> or by Cell Phone <here> and just for <FUN>   When is too much rope enough?? Local80 is a member of the  Scaffold Industry Association.  Let's make sure no photo like this is ever put on their Wall of Shame. For more Darwin Award moments  go <here> and just for fun the Official Darwin's <here>   Community Involvement:                   Feb. 12th ~ LA Convention Center                   LA Academic Decathlon Championships Supported        by Local80         In the local LAUSD Decathlon this year, El Camino Real  H.S. was victorious. We salute them and give them our congratulations, well done. They now go on to the State and Nationals. (full story)	Location Maps for many LA shows. Use the WEB LINKS listing at the left and click LOCATION MAPS    Map of the 30 Mile Zone for those who still get drive-to [ here ]     In the OFFICIAL FORMS link to the left, download and print the Doctor Designation Form. Everyone should designate a doctor when starting any new job. Ask someone who didn't how well it went when forced to use the company's doc.           Weather Info Local80 News:                                        Los Angeles   NEXT GENERAL MEETING 10 am Sunday  October 4th 2009 (map)  Today Is and the Next E-Board Meeting is 9 am SUNDAY  July 12th 2009 (map) All Members are invited to attend Executive Board Meetings. Come and watch sausage being made. Want to become an officer of the Local, this is where to come and learn the ropes.   Moving the camera a look across time    Brother Patrick Daily flies a camera on U-Tube where's yours  ??                     Ok, they're electricians ... but hey, a good job  is a good job Call on your Federal or State Representative ^Click Here^ "One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors" Plato Industry News:                                          New Media Old TV Shows a big DVD hit + People like entertainment, they want stories, they're happy in the company of characters performed by enjoyable actors; and, reality tv brings little warmth.                        GATHERING ~~ Strike News A collection of world news reports about the SAG ~ AMPTP impasse that has lead to a de-facto strike. ( click here )                        COLLECTED ~~ Strike News A collection of world news reports about the WGA strike with insightful  peeks at the guts of the entertainment business. ( click here ) May 8th, 2008                                       A History of the Hollywood   Writers' Craft    ( read more here ) Federal Legislation Issues:                    Health Care        ( read more here )          Eight Million Union Members Striped of Their Rights California Legislation Issues:                 Below are issues being cooked in the California Legislature that are of importance to us as members of the film industry and of the labor movement. Film California     ( read more here )       Health Care        ( read more here )          Labor Movement News                         Below are issues that are of importance to us as members of the labor movement. U.S. Congresswoman Hilda Solis confirmed as head U.S. Dept. of Labor ( read more here ) Call on your Federal or State Representative ^Click Here^   LA Labor 411, a project of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO , offers  an  on-line version of its printed  guide to Southern California  union goods and services. The directory makes available listings for companies and organizations to everyone  wanting to patronize  union-related products, services and  vendors.     Click the image above to view a video about the state of labor today    Injustice anywhere  is a threat to   justice everywhere             M.L. King Living Wages: An update   News in the Papers  FilmLA Production Data   Other Interesting News Stories   Soak your mind in  'AFL/CIO Web Blog' <touch the eye> It's a way to starch the view of labor in your mind as you are laundered and spun dry in the wash of today's media   Words on Wal-Mart ( read more here ) Always Low Prices .... there's a price to pay "Outsourcing" The Jibjab View   To call your Congress person click the box below TAKE ACTION ALERT <click here> Pictures from the 2006 Annual Picnic October 15th 2006 click here to see more (use your IE browser)    The Chris Hager Portrait Gallery Kristine Figg, L80 Grip Trent Anderson, L80 Grip "No, Ben, you wake her and tell her to get off" some browsers can right-click pix to enlarge A pre-OSHA  M.M. moment at 20th The Way It Was By Paul Starr I was obligated in January 1955, after working at MGM studios for seven months on a permit. One of the old timers on the lot, Johnny Ponder, was working up high, laying out sticks (they were 8’ by 10’ centers on the regulars ((permanents)) ). Roger Smedley and I were pulling hangers. Both of us were permits. We decided that the best way to pull hangers was to throw our hand lines over a stick nearby and pull them up from the catwalk. Johnny got way ahead of us and came back and showed us how to work our way out to the marks, and pull straight up (Johnny Ponder was 60 years old at the time). Both of us got up enough courage to go out and do it, and lo and behold we found it was not only easier, but safer in the long run. Especially for the guys working below us. In November we were told we would have to put up $200 to join the local, $100 at that time and $100 later when we were obligated. Then in December just prior to Christmas, we were told we had to put up all the money. Johnny Ponder (I had only known him from the hanger episode) came to me and said, “I heard about the extra money you’d have to put up, and I know you’ve got kids.” He pulled out a wallet and handed me a $100 bill, and said, “You can pay me back later.” That gives you an idea of the way that many of the old timers took care of the young kids on the lot.   Another  old-timer was Lucien Cassidy.  He   taught me how to work up high safely. Tie off    the bowline low on the railing post across the catwalk---- keep one hand for myself----    check the hand line to make sure it’s not    worn---- and make sure the sticks are safely cleated before you go down for coffee break, because you may not be back soon----- and you always want to make it safe for the next guy.

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Cesar Chavez

 United Farm Workers Union

The UFW is a good friend in solidarity
with the IA and with L80.

This link to their site is in recognition of
their support of us and of ours for them
in their struggles to maintain the rights and dignity
of workers who daily supply our food.

"More and more products are being made abroad," said Mari McQueen, a senior editor at Consumer Reports, adding that "the United States imports 24 percent of manufactured consumer goods, with China alone making 78 percent of toys, 40 percent of furniture and lamps, and 19 percent of electronics purchased here in the US."

Buy American - Made in the USA

The Social Security Administration recently celebrated its 65th anniversary.
SSA employees were given small boxes with stylish memorabilia pins
emblazoned with the casting, "Social Security, An American Cornerstone."
The back of the boxes were marked "Made in China." 

Make no mistake, the web staff likes Chinese ... food.

..... Count yourself fortunate if you are Union .....