IATSE Hollywood: See-Through Envelopes

COMMENTS (18)

• The see-through envelopes were a cost cutting measure, as were the recycled plastic garbage bins that the “no” votes were stored in.

  Comment by j.r. — Sunday March 22, 2009 @ 4:12pm PDT  Reply to this post

• So besides being able to match a specific member to a specific vote, they could also have thrown out “no” votes and then claimed they were never received. It’s a lot harder to hide a ballot after the envelope is opened.

  IATSE — your union leadership working hard for you.

  Comment by rosettaresearch — Sunday March 22, 2009 @ 4:14pm PDT  Reply to this post

• The ballots were more sophisticated when I ran for class president in high school. Honestly folks – doesn’t this smell just a teensy, weensy bit?

  Comment by Hank Yablonski — Sunday March 22, 2009 @ 5:47pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I saw that a couple of weeks ago and did what the site recommended– I folded my ballot in half so that the NO box was on top of the YES one. You can’t tell what the vote is then.

  Comment by Fielding Mellish — Sunday March 22, 2009 @ 6:28pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Har har. This is why I’ve always folded my ballots in half, carefully, so the two boxes overlay one another exactly.

  Of course, I have no idea if this was one of the reasons so many ballots were ruled ineligible…

  Comment by Billy — Sunday March 22, 2009 @ 6:30pm PDT  Reply to this post

• What kind of putz would lay it in there without doing a dry run…
  “oh no, my no vote is showing, better fold it again”.

  Comment by unionguy — Sunday March 22, 2009 @ 9:13pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Shouldn’t it have said “Do not put any identifying marks INSIDE this envelope”

  Comment by Anonymous — Monday March 23, 2009 @ 12:53am PDT  Reply to this post

• Just another sad footnote to the tragedy of the IATSE self-imposed debacle that took away any chance of them seeing a decent contract in their lifetimes. In three years, AMPTP will provide the final nail for the coffin that IATSE voluntarily leaped into with reckless abandon.

  Comment by Sterling Wolfe — Monday March 23, 2009 @ 10:22am PDT  Reply to this post

• What else is new? Unions have always been corrupt. They don’t give a damn about the workers. It’s always been about lining the pockets of the union bosses and those they answer to.

  Comment by Just wanna work — Monday March 23, 2009 @ 11:04am PDT  Reply to this post

• Look, nobody’s going to challenge the results. Compared to 700′s vote, it was a squeeker, but it really wasn’t close enough to harp on this stuff. AMPTP got their way fair and square. The only thing to do now is look to the future.
  We got a last-minute email from the president of Local 600 right before the vote. There, he takes on not the arguments against the proposed contracts but some guy named Hart (who at least I have never heard of).
  Maybe Hart was as confused as he was painted, maybe not.
  All I care about in that letter and in this whole fight (because union health coverage IS something that’s going to be extinct sooner or later), is THIS from that email blast:
  It quotes this Hart guy as saying: “The ‘New Media’ language…will more than likely kill the union within a few years…”
  And responds: “Talk about hysterical.”
  EVERYBODY: Please tack this exchange to your fridge, put it on your desktop, have it come up on your iCal from time to time.
  IF, NEXT TIME OFFICERS ARE ELECTED OR CONTRACTS ARE PROPOSED, IT TURNS OUT THIS NEW MEDIA PREDICATION WAS HYSTERICAL, BREATHE A SIGH OF RELIEF AND RE-ELECT THE CURRENT UNION LEADERSHIP, VOTE YES ON THE NEXT CONTRACT THEY PRESENT. BUT, IF IT TURNS OUT THAT PREDICTION WASN’T HYSTERICAL AT ALL, DO WHATEVER YOU CAN DO TO SLOW THE BLEED AND VOTE AGAINST THE CURRENT LEADERSHIP AND ANYTHING THEY WORK OUT WITH THE AMPTP.
  IF THE NEW MEDIA LANGUAGE RE-DEFINES SO MANY PRODUCTIONS IN NEW, ESSENTIALLY “NON-UNION” CATEGORIES THAT YOU OR YOUR SPOUSE IS WONDERING WHAT KIND OF NEW CAREER YOU CAN START AT YOUR AGE, THEN REMEMBER WHO ASSURED YOU THAT IT WAS HYSTERICAL TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT THE NEW MEDIA LANGUAGE IN THIS CONTRACT.

  Comment by local 600 — Monday March 23, 2009 @ 12:16pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Folding the ballot in half is a “no brainer.” AAA personnel are the only one who handle the ballots. The ballots were mailed from and directly to the AAA and never handled by any of the Locals. The AAA personnel have no idea who you are. Once voter eligibility is determined by a Locals Constitution and By-Laws and labor law the outer envelope is opened and the inner (ballot) envelope is tossed into a bin. Labor law allows for Locals to have monitors present so that the all ballot handling rules are followed. I guess it’s more rewarding to find a conspiracy where it doesn’t exist than to accept that the majority, right or wrong, voted for this contract.

  Comment by anonymous — Monday March 23, 2009 @ 1:05pm PDT  Reply to this post

• We got a last-minute email from the president of Local 600 right before the vote. There, he takes on not the arguments against the proposed contracts but some guy named Hart (who at least I have never heard of).

  Here’s what Doug Hart (who’s one of the good guys; he was President of Local 644 before it got eaten by 600, where he is an NEB member) had to say here at Nikki’s place -

  http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/iatse-hollywood-leaders-sweat-part-2/#comment-211066
  http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/iatse-hollywood-leaders-sweat-part-2/#comment-211607
  http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/iatse-hollywood-leaders-sweat-part-2/#comment-212305

  And there’s more here in the comments here -

  http://400hours.com/blog/2008/12/28/affectsofthecontractifpassed/#comments

  IF, NEXT TIME OFFICERS ARE ELECTED OR CONTRACTS ARE PROPOSED, IT TURNS OUT THIS NEW MEDIA PREDICATION WAS HYSTERICAL…

  Why wait? All one need do is look back at the successive IA deals over the past 30 years. The trend is obviously and blatantly downhill all the way.

  I thought the one that just passed would’ve finally been enough to light a fire under the do-nothing people that make up the vast majority of the IA membership. Boy, was I wrong…!

  Comment by Billy — Monday March 23, 2009 @ 2:59pm PDT  Reply to this post

• How does the AAA check to see who has and who hasn’t paid their dues?

  If it’s a list given by any of the locals.. they could be given a list of employes that work at 7/11 as far as we know.

  Why use a white ballot if they are see through?

  Why not stick the ballot in the Blue envelope (forget the white one) and send it in that way?

  It doesn’t matter anymore I guess. We are really doomed. We will all be undercutting each other and working longer work days which will certainly kill people.

  Over 3,500 members who desperately need health coverage are being tossed over board and forced to swim even though their are the lifeboats ($1 Billion january box office) and the over $20 Billion DVD sales in 08′ But hey… $20 Billion is considered “Slumping sales” Whatever..

  IATSE is such a strong and noble union. A real “fighter” for it’s members. I’m so glad I joined.
  They do so little for so many. Or is it So much for so few.

  Either way.. it has the appearance of being really shady.

  Comment by conspiracy guy — Monday March 23, 2009 @ 3:40pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I guess it’s more rewarding to find a conspiracy where it doesn’t exist than to accept that the majority, right or wrong, voted for this contract.

  These are two different things.

  I have, from past experience, absolutely no (as in none whatsoever) reason to trust my IA local with anything, at all. If any of them are merely in the room when the votes are opened, that’s more than reason enough to obfuscate mine. Shit, I even pay my dues with postal money orders just to be sure they have no idea where I do my banking…

  Comment by Billy — Monday March 23, 2009 @ 3:46pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Conspiracy Guy
  Get a grip! Those Local members that monitor the counting process for the most part are members who don’t trust their Locals and/or the IA for that matter.

  Comment by anonymous — Tuesday March 24, 2009 @ 7:12pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Again, I ask how does the AAA know who is and who is not eligible to vote?

  A. Do they have a list?
  B. Do they Guess?
  C. Do the Locals give the AAA a list?
  D. If the locals give them a list they could simply say this person or that person has not paid up. (and for the most part the locals know who is for and against the contract.. I mean.. honestly they do.)

  I have heard of two people who were fully paid up on their dues and then somehow they knew their ballots were tossed because they “weren’t” supposedly on the “paid up” list.

  I gotta “grip” (hint) anonymous, sounds like you need to get one. ; – )

  Comment by consiparcy guy — Wednesday March 25, 2009 @ 11:40am PDT  Reply to this post

• I’ve got to tell you, ‘conspiracy guy’ and ‘anonymous,’ the list that the locals provide is of course “confidential.” At the ballot sorting and counting, those whose ballots are set aside and never opened because they “are not in good standing” are kept confidential and not revealed to the ballot-counting witnesses, because it’s “private” whether or not someone is in good standing.

  What’s one to do? Call the local and ask if they’re on the “Not in Good Standing List?” What if they are not on that list, but their name appeared on the one given to the “neutral, outside agency” entrusted with the ballot count?

  Hmmm…

  Comment by Karl Struss — Wednesday March 25, 2009 @ 9:14pm PDT  Reply to this post

• i wish they brought back night pay.

  Comment by IA MEMB — Sunday March 29, 2009 @ 9:30pm PDT  Reply to this post