Hi
I'm a part time worker from the Charlotte Local IA . There are couple of things you might also want to be aware of, as I doubt any college class has covered a any of this stuff. Please remember I can only speak to my local there are many people out there whose locals work differently.
First off, here at least there is a minimum time limit requirement in my local before you can apply for a card. Your required to work with the local for a minimum number of hours or a given time period before you can even apply to take the test. It can vary from a few months to at least 2 years, perhaps even more.
Second, is that the Union is at least in your first few years is not steady work. You begin on a general
call list and then work your way up the more calls you take the higher up the list you can go. Lists are usually alphabetical with A-list people called first and lower list people called last. Some
call lists are based on seniority and others are based on merit, but nobody just walks into the A-list, and very rarely does joining the union ( at least here) mean a 40 hour a week job. I have gone an entire month without work, and then turned around and worked a 72 hour week. It does vary depending on where you work and how available you are.
Third, your not going to just be doing theater. You work Rock concerts Corporate events, dance shows, Circus acts, ( I even did a wedding once, I'd hate to see the bill from it.) Usually, your not required to be as creative as you are in theater, even though again I imagine that can change from Local to Local. IA is not the designer's Union,
USAA is, something to keep in mind. I think as a T.D. doing some work with your Local is a great idea, since you really have to be versatile in your work approach and knowledge
base. I'm an electrician, but I've been called into do everything from video to painting and in the Local I work in you don't really know
jack until you've tried it all.
Fourth the union operates on a per
call basis and per
call usually is a four hour minimum. This means if you get on a
call list, Your B.A. will
call you and you go to whatever
address he/she sends you to and you will be paid for at least four hours of work (differs per contract) Some time you will be cut early and sometimes you will get to stay longer. It varies because you work to suite the needs of the show. Most load-ins around here are about 4-5 hours with a 2 hour show
call and a 4 hour out.
I hope that this one example from a Union helps. I feel that a lot of college students get really turned off to
IATSE because they don't understand it very well. Being a card holder lets you go on tour, save up for retirement, and have decent health plan to fall back on. The draw back are they schedule is a night mare and pay can be incredible or non existant.
Most college programs are geared towards that highly sought after "
House job" which is much more secure than working IA. However a lot of the guys who have those jobs have worked for the Union at some
point, a lot of
house jobs require some sort of Union Background. Ask around. While the Union may not be where you want to stay for your entire life it is a way to get you towards where your going.
Personally I love working for the
IATSE and intend to be come a Card holder in the next few months. That combined with my freelance L.D work gives me a reasonable yearly salary. It's not amazing but it's not horrible either. If you want to do some more research on the St. Louis Local check out sites like You Tube or PLSN. For some reason I think that St. Louis may have survived the GNR riot in the 90's. I think a few of the people who post after me may have completely different Union experiences, But I thought this might be helpful as an example.
(
to any of the IA brotherhood out there I've tried to be careful not to mention the sacred initiation rights the kissing of the ring, or the magical sheep.
?) Hope this helps.
P.S Your first
call you will push boxes. Your second
call you will push boxes, your third
call you will..... get the picture?