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Senate Kills Movies Futures Trading

By Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly - 7/15/10

The Senate drove the final stake through the heart of a proposed pair of financial exchanges that would have allowed the public to wager on the performance of Hollywood movies on Thursday.

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Emmy’s Most Nominated Individual Adds Five

By Alex Ben Block, THR - 7/8/10

Hector Ramirez (Local 600 member), the most nominated individual in Emmy history, didn't have time to dwell on earning five more noms Thursday to bring his total to 60. He was rushing off to start work on yet another series, NBC's "America's Got Talent." The veteran cameraman, who has won 15 times, is constantly in demand -- doing the Academy Awards, the Grammys, "American Idol" and dozens of others series and specials -- all without an agent or manager.

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ICE Steps Up for Hollywood, Big 4 Labels

By p2pnet.net - 7/2/10

With the shut down of domain names of nine alleged ‘movie pirate’ sites, taxpayer funded copyright cops, acting for, and on behalf of, Hollywood and the Big 4 record labels, have massively escalated their corporate-controlled attacks on P2P communities…..“We commend the action of ICE and the IPR Center in striking a significant blow against those who seek to profit from the copyrighted, intellectual property of others,” said Matthew D. Loeb, president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)

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Aldridge Takes Office as USITT President

By Barbara Lucas, Live Design - 7/2/10

Joe Aldridge (Local 720 member) of Las Vegas, Nevada, took office as president of the United States Institute for Theatre Technology, Inc. (USITT) on July 1. USITT’s new president has toured Japan with Siegfried and Roy, helped stage Oedipus at Colonus in Greece, taken plays to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and been artistic director for Shakespeare Under the Stars in Wimberley, Texas.

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Feds Launch Initiative to Halt Movie and TV Pirates; Seized Seven Websites Showing First Run Movies

deadline.com, 6/30/10

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) announced the launch Wednesday of “Operation In Our Sites,” a new initiative aimed at Internet counterfeiting and piracy.

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Workers to Senate Republicans: Stop Political Games with Jobless, State Aid

AFL-CIO blog, 6/30/10

Four times this year, Republican senators have blocked bills to keep alive extended unemployment insurance benefits for long-term jobless workers—most recently last week, when they blocked a bill that also contained desperately needed aid for states facing huge budget shortfalls.

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Futures Bans Shows MPAA’s Strength

Variety, 6/28/10

There's a good chance that Congress will pass a massive financial overhaul that includes a ban on box office futures trading. In other words, the two proposals for trading in film futures -- the Trend Exchange and the Cantor Exchange -- would be stopped even before they have a chance to start.

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CA Lawmakers OK Bills to Get $761M for Health Care

(LAT, 6/28/10 )

The California Legislature has narrowly passed two bills that will enable the state to obtain $761 million in federal subsidies to help thousands of uninsured Californians to obtain health insurance.

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Unions Back New Plan to Battle Intellectual Property Pirates

AFL-CIO blog, 6/25/10

Intellectual property theft—anything from pirated copies of Hollywood blockbusters and popular music to counterfeit brand-name airplane parts—steals American jobs and hurts the economy. This week, the Obama administration outlined a new strategy to stem the global flood of pirated property.

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Obama Administration Steps Up Anti-Piracy Plan

The Hollywood Reporter, 6/22/10

The feds are finally getting serious about piracy. The Obama administration on Tuesday announced the first-ever strategic plan on intellectual property enforcement, which is intended to both boost and better coordinate efforts to stop piracy at home and abroad, online and through physical sales for American products including movies, TV shows, video games, computer software, pharmaceuticals, counterfeit goods and more.

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Nevada Alliance Members Mobilize Against Angle’s Attack on Social Security, Medicare

AFL-CIO blog, 6/18/10

Nevada Republican U.S. Senate nominee Sharron Angle made many extremist statements during her primary campaign, and some of the most egregious involve her goal to eliminate Social Security and Medicare and privatize those two vital senior safety nets.

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Boxoffice Futures Gets Green Light

The Hollywood Reporter, 6/14/10

Despite intense last-minute lobbying by major Hollywood studios, talent guilds and others, the first futures contract based on movie boxoffice results was approved Monday and are expected to start trading this year.

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June 2010 Primary Sets

By Art Pulaski, CalLabor Fed - 6/8/10

The results of tonight’s primaries set in motion a battle for the soul of California. It’s Main Street vs. Wall Street, with the winner having an opportunity to shape California’s future for decades to come...

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Golden Hall Loses “Election Central” Juice

SD Union Tribune, 6/8/10

Breaking long tradition, San Diego’s Golden Hall is not center stage this election night, because of a labor dispute…The boycott, led by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 122, started after the November 2008 presidential election.

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November Elections

June 2010 Primary Pits Main Street Dems Against Wall St. Whitman

By Art Pulaski
CalLabor Fed, 6/8/10

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Unions back new online game that attacks Whitman's jobs record

(LA Times, 7/14/10)

We've now entered the video game portion of the California governor's race. The California Labor Federation has launched a new Wall Street Whitman video game. The object: to shoot off as many pink slips as possible to see how many employees you can fire at all of Whitman's past places of employment.

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100702_healthcare-bill.jpg

District 2 Delegates Endorse California Universal Healthcare Bill

At the May 15-16, 2010 convention, IATSE District 2 delegates unanimously urged passage of California’s Universal Healthcare bill, SB 810. Delegates also pledged to follow up with lobbying and mobilizing efforts on behalf of the bill and to support universal healthcare efforts in Hawaii, Arizona and Nevada. Stay tuned for future updates on what District 2 is doing to help pass this important legislation.
Click here for full text of resolution 

Health Care News

A Message From IATSE District 2 Secretary-Treasurer Ed Brown on the importance of Passage of National Single Payer Health Care Bill

Click Here for the Resolution Endorsing HR 676

Organizing Hotline

Working Non-Union?

Call the Organizing Hotline at (818) 572-2782 and we will notify the appropriate locals for organizing

 
Make it easy to buy Union – LA Labor 411

EFCA Updates

Click here to visit the EFCA site!
IATSE, Other Entertainment Unions Produce Video in Support of Employee Free Choice Act
Click here to watch the video!