The following excerpts are taken from an interview Josiah gave to LUEL:

Can you tell me a bit about IATSE Local 745? Who do you represent? What was the impetus around organizing your crafts?

IATSE Local 745 started in the 2000s with Minnesota and Iowa sports broadcasts. All the people were in the broadcast sports games. They banded and unionized. They won recognition and they have been operating since then. They unionized some others including Bally Sports North, other broadcasters, and third-party crews. Always broadcasters and TV, never in-house video board. In 2016, Timberwolves employees attempted to unionize in 2016. They started the first time with (wanting) a contract and began collecting cards. (Management and the workers) Were arguing with the courts over whether they were contractors. After a year or so they finally got a ruling that they were able to organize and (the workers) were not contractors.

The first (union vote) lost by 7 votes. A lot of people came and went, and a lot of propaganda was brought in. There was a raise (for workers) in 2016 so they would not do a union election, but they went to an election anyway. The 2016 raise was the first raise since 1997. The workers got a raise when they were brought on as W2s instead of contractors. We were collecting cards in 2022, they (management) knew it, and we had just won our fight at Minnesota United. They gave us a raise.

We waited until we got a contract with United to see how that went, and no more were raised until we had collected the majority of cards this year. Right when we were about to file, we got a rush email that people were getting raises. 2016, 2022, 2024, got raises in those years and we were collecting cards in those years. Other than 1997, every other raise was under the threat of unionization. They will be counted on December 10, 2024. The city council has been supportive of the company’s staying neutral.

Can you give some extra information on the National Labor Relations Bureau (NLRB) case that put workers classified as employees and not contractors?

They reclassified everyone as W2 instead of contractors. 1989 was when the Timberwolves started. The crew was contracted through a 3rd party, and eventually, the basketball team took up the contract.

LUEL notes that this case was Minnesota Timberwolves Basketball, LP, and International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Petitioner. Case 18-RC-169231, where a majority of the NLRB found that the team had not proven that the workers were contractors and ordered them to be classified as statutory employees under the law. This case was decided on August 18, 2017.

The interview continues:

Any particular challenges that have arisen in the campaign?

(I’m) not super familiar with how the earlier one (unionization effort) went, but between Timberwolves and Lynx season there is a new batch of employees that we have to explain why we are doing this and when and how we get raises. It is tough to keep educating new workers. 

I came from doing work from Gophers Sports at the University of Minnesota, (I) was making minimum wage there. It’s been a challenge to inform people why we are doing this and our tactic this time is to keep quiet about it and have one-on-one conversations, we waited to have a big group meeting until when the team found out about the unionization effort a month ago. The team has not had as much time to retain a union-busting lawyer and go after us this time compared to last time. We leaned on the support we got from the press, and city council, and were able to put a stop to the union-busting that went on last time. This is not (our) first rodeo, but we did it with Minnesota United FC and that was a new experience.

Besides union recognition, what are the workers at Target Center seeking to get from the bosses?

We want union raises, rather than raises anytime we are unionizing. Healthcare contributions, retirement contributions, minimum call times, and raises that are yearly. There are some people that drive a long way through traffic for 3/4 hours of work, so we want to guarantee more hours to people to make it sustainable. These are the main things. Also important are written safety guidelines. Safety has been OK there, but the build quality of some platforms is very poor. One worker, Charlie, works on the truck shows, he is familiar with Target Center and has had to make countless calls to have camera platforms properly built. There have been loose screws. Anyone one day could go into work and have a platform collapse resulting in injuries and damaged equipment. We want to be able to go to work and not worry about safety.

How can other workers support the organizing efforts of IATSE 745 and the Target Center workers?

Yes, so, at this point we are voting so the best thing you can do is encourage workers and let them know you have their back. This is the same we ask from anyone who wants to support us. Let us know if you support what we are doing. When we win, we will need support to secure that contract. It will not be a simple fight to get that first contract. It took us 15 months at Minnesota United, and we have heard the worst from other unions. We are worried about stalling tactics at the bargaining table.

In the meantime, we want to win the election and don’t want to get in the way of people who want to vote yes. I think it goes a long way when people stand up and support what we are doing. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison jumped on the info session on Monday, November 18, 2024. That appearance goes away when people that you know or have heard of are like “I see and I support you”. We got the union-busting to stop for now so we don’t need to put pressure on the team.

Follow our Twitter at @MnufcUnion as it is where we post updates and once we get to the negotiation stage we will need people’s support. That helped us big time with Minnesota United. The fans helped a lot and the team does care about how their fans feel. The fact is that the Timberwolves organization can afford to pay us better. The Timberwolves are worth over 3 billion dollars, Lynx are worth over 50 million dollars. With ticket sales, they can definitely pay us more. We are part of the reason people want to be at games so pay us a living wage.

LUEL notes that the majority owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves and the owner of the Minnesota Lynx, Glen Taylor, is called the richest man in Minnesota and is worth 2.8 billion dollars per Wikipedia. As a typical capitalist and boss, Mr. Glen would rather spend thousands on anti-union efforts than pay his workers a fair, living wage.

LUEL applauds the efforts of IATSE Local 745 and the workers in the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx association in their efforts to secure a union and a fair contract. The capitalists, the bosses, and their businesses have been racking in record profits at a time when inflation has raised the cost of living for workers. LUEL calls on the Timberwolves and Lynx organizations to recognize the union and give the workers a fair contract, and safe working conditions for their workers. We will be watching the vote and situation as it unfolds. IATSE Local 745’s website can be found at https://www.iatse745.com, and their Twitter is @MnufcUnion.

The post LUEL Supports Unionization of Sport Videoboard under IATSE Local 745 appeared first on Labor Today.

Now, workers at three Live Nation venues in Denver are standing up against low wages and poor working conditions. Workers at workers at Summit Music Hall and the Marquis Theater voted to unionize. They join a third Live Nation venue, the Fillmore Auditorium, who in International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local #7. The Fillmore voted to unionize in 2003.

Max Peterson, business representative for the Denver Theatrical Stage, Film & Exhibition Employees’ Union said, “A lot of people get in this business because they freaking love music…. What we see often is that these mega-corporations take advantage of that passion and undercut what would normally be a fair shake for these workers.”

IATSE organizer Hilliard Probasco said, “Labor conditions for production workers in the rock and roll industry are insecure, benefits are virtually nonexistent, and wages are low compared to union jobs within the entertainment industry. This crew has decided to take action to change that, and we look forward to helping them achieve these necessary changes.”

The work of Peterson, Probasco, and other labor activists in Denver have once again shown us that a collective struggle with our co-workers wins change.

The post Stagehands at Two Denver Live Nation Venues Vote to Unionize appeared first on Labor Today.