Dear member,
Here is a message from President Loeb and GST Wood:
Brothers and Sisters,
We are very aware of the financial and economic impact the COVID-19 shutdown has had on you. On March 18th all local union Treasurers and Secretaries were sent an email advising them of a temporary change to Article Nineteen, Section 13 to reduce financial pressures on our Locals. As the crisis has continued, we have examined additional options to partner with our local unions and provide them with relief on their per capita obligations.
While in some areas plans are being developed to slowly reopen parts of our economies, this reopening is clearly going to take place at a different pace in different regions and the return to a fully functioning economy is still a ways off.
The General Executive Board has now revisited the issue of second quarter per capita payments in light of the current situation. Based on that review and with the intention of providing additional financial assistance, the waiver of per capita has now been extended to the entire second quarter. This will be accomplished by issuing a credit to each local union that is based on the numbers reported on the second quarter report. This will result in a savings of almost $8.0 million dollars to our local unions and will contribute to a loss in the General Fund of the International over the next two fiscal years.
We will be contacting you shortly to explain how this exemption will work.
As you know, the International has been fully engaged in both the United States and Canada throughout this crisis. We have lobbied governments to provide unemployment benefits to our members, worked with benefit plans to implement changes, established IATSE C.A.R.E.S., negotiated with many employers to continue payments to our members for a period of time and the General Executive Board has approved a $2.5 million contribution to three industry charities to assist our affected members. All Officers, Representatives and Staff are operating remotely and continue to assist and service our local unions and their members.
We wish all of you and your families health and safety in these challenging times.
In Solidarity,
Matthew D. Loeb
IATSE International President
James B. Wood
General Secretary-Treasurer
