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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Topic: Union Projectionists picket Orinda Theatre (CA)
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Jack Ondracek
Film God
Posts: 2348
From: Port Orchard, WA, USA
Registered: Oct 2002
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posted 07-13-2009 05:19 AM
Probably more a matter of hiding one's head in the sand, denying the march of progress.
When running a single screen booth required the full-time attentions of a skilled individual, Labor built a profession around it. At that point, you could make the case that if someone was going to do that job for life, he should be paid well enough to provide for his support. In that sense, the union's process of training, scheduling, providing for relief operators, and wage and pension negotiations probably made a lot of sense.
Nowadays, I cringe at the thought of a union projectionist striking. If an owner needed a wake up call that things needed changing in the booth, that would do it.
Regardless how you view your professional attitude toward running movies, you really don't have to sit and babysit the projectors anymore. Xenon, platters, automation and the new film base changed all that.
Today, I doubt you could get decent booth training from the union. The equipment is just too widely varied and most owners don't look to a union for that function. Look at Brad, for example. As much as he puts into his booth programs, do you think he would turn training, personnel and quality control over to a union local?
Back when RCA or Altec took care of the sound and all you had to worry about was the two projectors, a training program was probably easier to manage. Now, I don't see how there's much left for the IA to do in most places. In the 37 years I've worked projectors (out of high school), the Seattle local was the only place I was ever around that really gave training a serious shot.
Does the union train qualified operators for digital projection? If not, then any substantial digital rollout is going to be disaster for the few union areas left, I think.
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Tim Reed
Better Projection Pays
Posts: 5246
From: Northampton, PA
Registered: Sep 1999
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posted 08-02-2009 02:13 PM
Phil... NO! ![[Frown]](frown.gif) So, do the Sugar Daddies come at Christmas? ![[Wink]](wink.gif) ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
Robert... yes, that came as a shock to me, too. I became an IA member as soon as I was old enough to join (actually sooner, because I lied about my age to get in when a job opened up -- I was still 17). Was in locals 346, Lexington, KY; 380, Okla. City; and 163, Louisville.
If the New York local is in trouble, you know it's all over. Actually, I knew it was over when they removed projectionists from the official name of the union.
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Brad Miller
Administrator
Posts: 17775
From: Plano, TX (36.2 miles NW of Rockwall)
Registered: May 99
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posted 08-02-2009 08:05 PM
quote: Bill Enos
The changeover was considered perfect if accomplished while the change cue was on the screen and acceptable if done within a few frames. There was pride in making themselves worthy of their pay.
Ok not to nitpick here, but perfect is NOT as the second cue is on screen. It is a second after (or sometimes 3/4 of a second, depending on the lab). It should have been deemed acceptable to change with the cue on the screen and perfect if there was half of a second after.
Of course every ex-union "changeover" guy I have ever worked with always insists on punching it right as the second cue hits the screen, so their heart always stops when I wait that extra 3/4 second or so before punching it. Its actually kind of funny because they expect to see black. ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
quote: Jack Ondracek
Today, I doubt you could get decent booth training from the union. The equipment is just too widely varied and most owners don't look to a union for that function. Look at Brad, for example. As much as he puts into his booth programs, do you think he would turn training, personnel and quality control over to a union local?
Well I used to be a part of Local 249 here in Dallas, and I can certainly attest that while many union projectionists just flat out sucked, our local had some pretty awesome guys working for them. Sure there was that one or maybe two guys who were so old and stuck in their ways they didn't put on a perfect show, but it certainly was never scratched. (Just some poor splicing habits and being terrified to run the film cleaners, etc.) I would say over 95% of the Dallas local was first rate guys, and the presentation on screen definitely spoke louder than words.
That being said, I didn't join the union to get paid better. I joined because I wanted to work in the GOOD booths with the PROFESSIONAL projectionists, not the run-of-the-mill multiplex with candy counter operators. I quickly worked my way through all of the theaters in the local and ended up being recruited for their top theater, the GCC Northpark 1&2, for the last 5 or so years of its existence. I ran it with two of the most spectacular projectionists ever, Ron Beardmore and Jim Green. Anyone that patronized the theater can attest to what all presentations should strive for. (And there were no changeover booths anywhere in town, just FYI.)
I should also point out that just because the Dallas local was good in no way meant that all unions put on a good presentation. In fact from what I've seen (and heard), we were the exception. There was also never any violence or property destruction in the Dallas local for the entire time I was a member. (I couldn't tell you what happened before I joined.)
quote: Joe Redifer
Why pay a union guy when you can pay someone else less and call them "User B"?
Its actually "Usher B", but I don't think you (or anyone) actually cares. That was a term coined by Cinemark in 1991 in a desperate effort to keep the union out by claiming "but we don't employ projectionists so there are no projectionists to unionize", and they still use the name to this day. It was nothing more than a lame union-busting tactic at the now-closed Cinemark Vista Ridge 12 in Lewisville, Texas.
The fact of the matter is that Cinemark was treating their staff like absolute shit at the time. Once the threat of organizing was brought to their attention, the local management very quickly started treating their employees (projectionists and downstairs floor staff) like actual human beings, and that practice spread quickly across the entire chain once they got that wake-up call. As a result, the union was called off a few months later, because the benefits that were strived for were obtained by the mere threat...and that was to be treated decently for a job well done. Its really not too much to ask of any company.
Before anyone starts calling bullshit, save your breath. I was there and I was the one who initiated the threat after seeing it wasn't just the local management at the Vista Ridge 12 that was treating their staff with the amount of respect you would give to a cow turd. So yes, the term "Usher B", as lame of a title as it is, was a trade for Cinemarkers around the world even today to be treated well and to be given a decent working environment. For those of you who have heard the story before, what you may not have heard was that in the end it was I who called the union off and stopped it from happening. (They always seem to forget that little tidbit.)
So to all of you Cinemarkers out there who go to other theaters and see a spectacularly clean presentation and then wonder why you can't get FilmGuard and make your presentations that good, or why you can't get a platter safety ring to keep your prints from tail wrapping and getting thrown, well its very simple...it all boils down to a grudge. Cinemark never let go of that grudge against me for the potential to unionize, even though the end result was better working conditions for everyone across their entire chain and as such, a better company overall. Still today, almost 20 years later, the grudge is still going strong. But hey, its their company and they can do whatever they like with it. At least I know that I have helped tens of thousands (or maybe more) of employees be treated with respect for the last 18 years at that chain, and at the end of the day it IS a good company (despite the dirty prints. )
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