Todays post about the Labor Movement, in celebration of Labor Day is about the history of the IATSE 1886 thru 1936. In 1886, Union members went on strike in New York City under the Theatrical Protective Union of New York. After producers filled the positions of strikers with less skilled strikebreakers, actors refused to work due to sets falling apart. With the support of the actors behind the strikers, they succeeded in most of their requests. The Los Angeles Theatrical workers union (which had independently formed in 1891) eventually joined the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union in 1896. In 1893, representatives of stagehands from eleven cities met in New York to discuss working conditions for their peers. They vowed to support each other in the effort to create an industry that would allow for fair wages and better working conditions. In 1895, home rule was established. The Alliance defined home rule as “22 New York theatres for New York local members, Chicago theatres for Chicago (and so forth)... and no other members of locals allowed to work within the jurisdiction of other locals without (their) consent. By 1898, the IATSE had welcomed two Canadian locals into the alliance: Montreal Local 56 and Toronto Local 58. In 1902, the Alliance adopted International into its title. In 1912, the union began a system that allowed individuals traveling with attractions to send basic information such as the size and length of time the local crews would be needed ahead to the next destination. This assured that there would be enough people to staff each theatre, and helped ensure these were union crews. The system is still in process today, and is referred to as the yellow card system. The IA was quickly becoming the preeminent theatrical union in North America after the Canadian Department of Labour listed theatrical locals in New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Calgary, Saskatchewan and Vancouver in 1928. In June 1933, President Roosevelt signed legislation affecting all US workers into law - the National Recovery Act, creating the National Recovery Administration (NRA). The NRA’s first mission was to create a uniform system of codes to cover all of industry in the United States. For months, the Alliance participated in hearings to create an industrial code for the entertainment industry. Eventually, four different codes were established: Code of Fair Competition for the Motion Picture Industry; Code of Fair Competition for the Legitimate Full Length Dramatic and Musical Theatrical Industry; Code of Fair Competition for the Burlesque Theatrical Industry; and the Code of Fair Competition for the Motion Picture Laboratory Industry. The NRA shortened working hours to spread the work around, and set the first minimum wage level for stagehands.[9] In 1938 the Fair Labor Standards Act was passed, including a provision that required studios to rearrange production schedules to fit the agreed-upon 44-hour work week (to be reduced to 40 over the following three years). Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Alliance_of_Theatrical_Stage_Employees#1886_-_1936
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 13:00:02 +0000
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