IATSE is asking on Congress to go a variety of laws to guard its members and the rights of working women and men throughout the nation. Referred to as its Federal Problem Agenda, the wishlist faces an uphill battle with Republicans now controlling the Home of Representatives.
Calling for the elimination of so-called “right-to-work legal guidelines” – which in 28 states make it more durable for employees to kind unions and collectively discount – IATSE is urging Congress to go the Defending the Proper to Manage Act and to extend funding for the Nationwide Labor Relations Board.
“Labor unions are underneath assault,” the union says, “with insurance policies throughout the nation undermining employees’ collective bargaining rights and stripping union employees of the wages, advantages, and retirement safety they deserve. We should strengthen the federal legal guidelines that defend employees’ proper to arrange a union and discount for increased wages and higher advantages.”
The union additionally desires Congress to make well being care a fundamental proper of all People. “Our longstanding objective for reaching that is to expeditiously transfer towards a single-payer system that gives common protection, with out diminishing the hard-fought advantages union members have gained for themselves and all working folks.”
IATSE additionally seeks federal laws to guard voting rights. “The correct to vote is prime for working folks,” the union says. “It’s how we specific our voice as residents and the final word protection in opposition to the facility of wealth and privilege. Our freedom to vote is underneath risk, as many states have positioned undue restrictions on entry to the poll field. Early and absentee voting choices, which leisure employees depend on as a result of transient nature of our work, are being curtailed throughout the U.S. To protect the desire of the folks, we’d like nationwide requirements that guarantee each voice is heard and each vote will get counted.”
The union can be calling on Congress to go the Equality Act, which might amend the 1964 Civil Rights Act to ban discrimination on the idea of intercourse, sexual orientation and gender identification, in employment, housing, schooling, public lodging and federal applications. “Equal rights are the cornerstone of the labor motion,” the union says. “IATSE is dedicated to equality of alternative, eliminating all types of discrimination, and upending systemic racism within the arts and leisure trade.”
In search of to revive tax equity for union inventive professionals, the union is urging Congress to go the Performing Artist Tax Parity Act to replace the Certified Performing Artist tax deduction, and to revive the tax deductibility of union dues, and to finish tax breaks for corporations that bust unions. “The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eradicated unreimbursed worker bills as a tax deduction,” the union stated. “W-2 employees misplaced the power to deduct bills, usually important, like our tools, journey for work, and even union dues. This meant an industrywide tax enhance for working class, union inventive professionals.”
Calling for elevated federal funding for the humanities, IATSE desires Congress to help a funding degree for the Nationwide Endowment for the Arts to be set on the equal of $1 per capita, or $333 million. “Because the union behind leisure, we all know that funding for the humanities straight impacts job development and work for our expert craftspeople. Federal arts businesses – just like the Nationwide Endowment for the Arts – help working households, bolster native economies, and guarantee all People have entry to the humanities and leisure.”
The union additionally desires Congress to implement robust copyright legal guidelines to guard inventive content material by reforming Part 512 of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, and to exclude overly broad copyright secure harbor provisions from future U.S. commerce agreements. “Preventing on-line piracy and implementing copyright obligations are crucial to our members,” the union says. “Whereas we don’t personal the copyrights to the works we assist create, our livelihoods depend upon contractual residuals paid to our well being and pension plans when the copyrights for these audiovisual works are licensed to others over the lifetime of a piece. The theft of copyrighted works – domestically and internationally – threatens our hard-won well being care advantages and retirement safety.”
Calling for the institution of a nationwide paid household and medical depart program, IATSE notes that it’s “comprised of a various membership with quite a lot of household care wants. Whereas a few of our members can entry state-level paid household and medical depart advantages, or have secured these advantages on the bargaining desk, many extra IATSE employees don’t qualify for state-provided paid depart applications as a result of intermittent ‘gig’ primarily based nature of our work carried out for a number of employers annually, doubtlessly in a couple of state. In crafting a nationwide program, we urge Congress to accommodate the distinctive work patterns of behind-the-scenes leisure employees to make sure we’re not ignored of this necessary care infrastructure.”
The union additionally desires laws to guard and restore Social Safety, and to “defend our pension funds and guarantee retirement safety after a lifetime of labor.” Commending the final Congress for passing the Butch Lewis Act to safeguard the long-term well being of the multiemployer pension system, the union stated that “We oppose any proposals that will weaken our financially steady, wholesome pension plans and hurt the IATSE’s means to supply promised retirement safety to employees.”
