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(CHICAGO) – Hollywood’s biggest stars will take home golden trophies during the 84th Annual Academy Awards, but the Teamsters who manufacture and polish the coveted statues are being handed something far less glamorous—gutted benefits and drastic wage cuts.

Fifty Teamsters on Chicago’s North Side have reached a stalemate during contract negotiations with R.S. Owens & Company, the longtime producer of the Oscar and Emmy Awards. Owens denied wage increases to its workers from 2007-2011, and is proposing wage freezes for the next three years. Such action would leave employees without any new wages in nearly a decade.

Owens also wants to cut vacation and bereavement benefits prior to the Oscars on Feb. 26, 2012.

“From the Screen Actors Guild to the Directors Guild of America, most celebrities who get an Oscar are in a union themselves,” said Donnie Von Moore, President of Teamsters Local 743, which represents the men and women behind the Oscars. “They know how crucial unions are to protecting livelihood. What the workers at R.S. Owens need now is union support.”

The Chicago Teamsters are reaching out to industry unions and organizations in several states for support. Illinois has experienced a boom in blockbuster film and television production in recent years thanks to its significant film tax credit, generating hundreds of jobs for local Teamsters.

As contract negotiations with Owens stall, the union is also preparing for federal mediation. Owens seeks to reduce vacation benefits for the majority of its workers, increase health care costs and cut wages for family medical leave, despite taking in revenue this year of $31 million.

“No matter the economy, R.S. Owens can count on the Oscars ceremony kicking off in February each year,” said John T. Coli, President of Teamsters Joint Council 25. “This company needs to bargain in good faith with the workers who make these award shows possible in the first place.”

A Los Angeles film crew is expected to be in Chicago on Tuesday as part of the Academy Awards’ annual documentary on the making of the Oscar statuettes.

Teamsters Local 727, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and the Illinois Production Alliance have joined forces to fight a bill that would severely impact Illinois’ booming film industry.

Senate Bill 4, as amended by the House, imposes a five-year “sunset clause” for the Illinois Film Tax Credit program. It also makes changes to an existing law as it applies to the Illinois Economic Development for a Growing Economy (EDGE) Tax Credit in order to retain specific Illinois companies.

“We’re looking at missing out on hundreds of jobs for our hardworking members and millions of dollars for our great state,” said John T. Coli, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 727, which represents hundreds of workers in the movie industry. “You can have periodic reviews in a way that doesn’t jeopardize projects.”

The bill passed the House 90-20 on March 17, 2011. It now goes back to the Senate, which would have to approve the amendments on their bill.

The Illinois Film Tax Credit program provides for a 30 percent tax credit based on Illinois Production Spending, plus an additional 15 percent tax credit based on Illinois labor expenditures generated by the employment of residents from areas with high poverty or unemployment rates. Illinois Production Spending means the expenses incurred for an accredited production from final script stage through post-production.

The sunset clause would require the legislature to re-approve the tax credit every five years.

“These productions cost hundreds of millions of dollars. Even a little uncertainty can greatly diminish our attractiveness,” Coli said. “Film productions, particularly television series, require a minimum of two years of planning before filming ever begins. If the tax credit comes into question, production companies will simply take their projects elsewhere.”

In 2008, the Teamsters were successful in their fight to have the tax credit sunset clause removed, and since that time, Illinois’ film industry has seen substantial growth. Dozens of movies, TV shows and commercials have come to Chicago, and as a result, Chicago Film Studios is building a studio on Chicago’s west side that will become the largest North American soundstage outside of Los Angeles.

“When you couple the tax credit with our infrastructure of experienced workers, breathtaking scenery and a new multi-million dollar film studio, Chicago has become an ideal place for production companies to film their projects,” Coli said. “Even in a down economy, the film business has been booming here, and we have more members working than ever before. This bill would put our members’ livelihoods in jeopardy, and that is something we absolutely cannot stand for.”

Teamsters Local 727 represents more than 6,000 hardworking men and women in the Chicago area.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees have entered into an agreement to work together toward common goals.

The pact sets out how the Unions will address organizing efforts, deal with jurisdictional issues and establishes new lines of communication aimed at strengthening the relationship.

A joint committee will be established to oversee the efforts of the two unions, which both service movies and television productions throughout the industry.

IATSE International President Matthew Loeb stated “The Teamsters are our natural allies. They work side by side with our members for the same employers, and they face the same challenges we do with respect to our standard of living, and health and retirement benefits.” In Hollywood, the Unions both participate in the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans.

Recent meetings between the leadership of the two labor organizations have led to closer ties.

“We look forward to working more closely with IATSE to represent the interests of our members in the motion picture and television industry,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President.

“Together our unions will work toward protecting the interests of our members,” said Leo Reed, Director of the Teamsters Motion Picture Division and Secretary-Treasurer of Local 399 in Hollywood. “Our members will only benefit from this new partnership.”

The Executive Boards of both unions ratified the agreement in a strong showing of unity and solidarity.

The IATSE is an International Union that represents members employed in the stagecraft, motion picture and television production, and trade show industries throughout the United States, its Territories, and Canada.

(For background information on the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees: www.iatse-intl.org.)

For further information contact:

Katherine Orloff
IATSE Publicist
IATSE: 212-730-1770 ext. 150
Mobile: 240-477-3500
Email: iapr@mac.com

Galen Munroe
Press Secretary
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Phone: 202-624-6904
Email: gmunroe@teamster.org

Music has long had a role in social activism, so it only seems fair that social activism is entering the dialogue among musicians.

Hundreds of composers and songwriters, including Hans Zimmer and Diane Warren, have jumped onto the union bandwagon by asking Teamsters Local 399 to represent them in negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

They've already received endorsements from the Writers Guild of America, the Screen Actors Guild, the American Federation of Musicians, the Recording Musicians Assn. (a group within AFM that reps most studio players) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

But the 1,200-member Society of Composers & Lyricists -- the largest collection of composers and songwriters active in film and TV music -- has not backed the effort, a sign that not everyone agrees unionization is a good idea, or that now is necessarily the right time.

Agents are divided, and it's not yet clear how unionization, especially given the current modest proposals for no more than medical benefits and a pension plan, would affect the bottom line of composer reps.

"We have the support of most of the composers, and many lyricists and songwriters," reports organizing committee chairman Bruce Broughton. "There has been unbelievable support for the idea of benefits-only. It's a fairness issue: Why in the world shouldn't composers and lyricists have benefits?"

That seems to be the single most unifying force in the movement. Backers of the move to unionize say composers are the last creatives left in Hollywood who have no collective bargaining agreement, and thus have no access to health care or a pension plan. (They did until 1982, when the Composers & Lyricists Guild of America was dissolved after battling the networks and studios for years over music-rights issues.)

The movement to unionize has been brewing for some time now, and received a big boost April 19 when about 200 tunesmiths turned out for an organizational meeting at the WGA theater in Beverly Hills. By that time, such heavyweight film composers as Quincy Jones, Randy Newman, James Newton Howard and Carter Burwell had thrown their support behind unionization.

"What came out of that (April 19 organizing) meeting," says Teamsters business agent Steve Dayan, "was a renewed sense of hope and optimism, and a bit more solidarity from composers. That's a huge step forward."

But, most insiders admit, there is also genuine fear of unionizing on the part of many composers, who for decades have seen their wages plummet, their allotted time to write and record shrink, technology alter their methodology, and eager young composers who are willing -- because there are no standard rates or minimum fees in place -- to undercut the experienced veterans on pay, or even work for free.

The proposed Assn. of Media Composers and Lyricists does not endeavor to tackle those issues. Debating working conditions, "Law and Order" composer Mike Post said at the meeting, is "a non-starter … the very thing that would put us out of work (and give) the producers and studios an excuse to use libraries" -- the banks of cheap, generic music mined by many reality shows.

SCL president Dan Foliart issued a statement to Variety that stops short of outright endorsement, noting that "the SCL applauds the organizing efforts of our peers (and) continues to monitor this effort, the impact that it will have on our profession, and assess the role that the SCL should play moving forward."

The AFM also has been silent on the issue. The organization, which already negotiates with the AMPTP, contractually covers orchestration, conducting, music preparation and performing, but not the act of writing music.

The process of unionization could take several years. The Teamsters needed more than four years to complete the unionization of casting directors and associates, who signed their first contract with the AMPTP in 2006.

Agent Richard Kraft, whose clients include Marc Shaiman and Alan Menken, believes the threshold for qualifying for benefits -- both in terms of hours worked under union contracts, and the number of actual union (i.e., Teamsters) pictures composers are able to do per year -- may be too high for many members, who work mostly on indie, low-budget or non-union films.

"The big, established composers are not the ones who really need these benefits," says Kraft, "and many are supporting this in the hopes of helping out those in a less-fortunate position."

But Kraft is also concerned that the move toward unionization could open up a "Pandora's Box of divisive issues," including working conditions, which few composers can agree on.

"If you talk to 10 different composers about working conditions they'd like addressed, you'll get 10 different answers," he says.

For example, the subject of demos, in which composers create music for free hoping to get a gig -- now commonplace in TV -- came up at the April 19 meeting when one composer cited an email from the Teamsters to the WGA that had been leaked to a popular Hollywood blog that day.

The email -- which WGA West exec director David Young confirmed to Variety was never shown to the WGA board, much less "approved" as claimed -- suggested the WGA ask its showrunner members to stop asking composers to write music for free. Since organizers for the proposed Assn. of Media Composers and Lyricists have decided to seek benefits only, the Teamsters memo is moot.

"Family Guy" composer Ron Jones is among the few composers publicly opposed to unionizing. "We haven't even explored other possibilities," he contends, suggesting that a group medical plan might be preferable, or even a class-action lawsuit over employers demanding intolerable hours.

Many composers "are not even getting minimum wage," he says. In fact, at the April 19 meeting, a casual reference to composers working a 40-hour week was met with loud guffaws from a crowd more accustomed to 60- and 80-hour work weeks. "They wanted something to really help these composers in dire need, and they're going to settle for a Twinkie from 7-Eleven," Jones says.

Broughton, however, suggests that the majority of working composers in Hollywood are ready to sign up with the Teamsters. "We're well on our way to establishing critical mass," he says.

The article, written by Jon Burlingame, originally appeared in Variety at May 1, 2010.