Business Manager’s Message – December 2024

What a Year!

Brothers & Sisters,

Thank you to everyone who attended our That’s a Wrap holiday luncheon last week. The Local has hosted this event for many years, and seeing the large turnout is a huge sign of support for your officers and staff working hard for you every day.

At the luncheon, we had our largest group of service pin honorees, with over 40 attendees ranging from 5 years of service to 60 years of service. This was a special moment to recognize these members and their commitment to the brotherhood.

We also recognized two members who stepped up for our Local in a way that I cannot overstate. Since our Inside jurisdiction was restored in 1997, the membership has asked for foreman opportunities. This year, we made a commitment to make that happen and I am proud to share that we have had more Foreman callouts and more Local 40 Foreman than ever.

The next part of that commitment was developing foreman training to ensure that we are preparing members for these roles and giving them the tools to be successful. This required two members to attend three full weeks of training out of state and bring that material back to train Local 40 members. This development series was only possible with the commitment of Brothers Phillip Otto and Lane Stewart, Jr.

Reflecting back on 2024, we had many reasons to celebrate. First being our 100th Anniversary celebration, where we had over 700 members, guests and dignitaries at the Warner Brothers backlot in May. And even though it was delayed due to the WGA & SAG-AFTRA strikes, it ended up being a celebration fitting of our Local’s legacy in the motion picture industry.

This year marked the first year for our Inside Agreement members’ new defined benefit annuity, which provides them with a guaranteed benefit similar to the Motion Picture Pension. Although the work picture in 2024 started slower than we had hoped, rounding out the last few months of this year, the man hours started to pick up, and 2025’s work picture is already looking brighter.

The most significant events of 2024 were our contract negotiations with the AMPTP and Universal Studios Theme Park.

These agreements are more than just impressive. They are historic. First, we bargained for the first time since 1988 jointly with IATSE over our shared benefits in the Motion Picture Industry health plans and were able to secure a new streaming residual, ensuring the strength of our pension and health plans as the industry evolves.

We secured the largest wage increases in 40 years. For context, over a third of our active members were not even alive the last time we had this large of an increase. For our Universal Theme Park group, this was the largest increase since the inception of the supplemental agreement.

We also secured an additional holiday, access to the Inside agreement 401k, which we expect to be accessible starting in 2025, and added language that gives the members the power to choose if they want their dues deducted from their paychecks, as opposed to employers flat saying ‘no’.

But all of this does not happen without you, without engaged membership.

With 2024 now behind us, it is time to begin looking ahead. At the start of next year, we will be sending out a survey and starting a dialogue about the pros and cons of staying with our current quarterly dues system or switching to having dues deducted from your weekly paycheck.

I look forward to having these conversations, and working with all of you on what is in the best interest of the Local and our members.

I hope you have a safe and happy holidays, and a blessed 2025!

In Solidarity,

Stephan Davis
Business Manager
Financial Secretary