Craig Carlson has served as the Business Manager of IATSE Local 2 since 2005 and an IATSE International Vice President since 2008. Carlson also serves as the IATSE District 9 Chair, an Illinois AFL-CIO Vice President (since 2013), and a member of both the IATSE PAC Committee and the Stage Craft Department. Locally, he sits on the Chicago Entertainment Industry Labor Council.
Under his leadership, Local 2 has expanded its physical and educational infrastructure. In 2007, Carlson initiated Local 2’s Journeyman / Apprentice Training Fund, establishing a structured curriculum that has yielded over 400 ETCP certificates and trained staging professionals from numerous Midwestern Locals.
He spearheaded Local 2’s first office purchase in 2008 and subsequently secured $7 million in state funding for workforce infrastructure: a $5 million Illinois grant in 2023 to build a state-of-the-art training center and administrative office (opened in 2025), followed by a $2 million training center grant from Illinois in 2026. IATSE International President Matthew D. Loeb recognized the landmark facility as the result of one of the most effective labor activism campaigns he has seen.
Carlson has expanded union jurisdiction and market share across the entertainment sector, organizing prominent employers and securing landmark inaugural contracts for major cultural, sports, and music properties:
- Theaters & Cultural Institutions: The Obama Presidential Center, Steppenwolf, Goodman, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Joffrey Ballet, Hubbard Street Dance Company, Metropolis Theatre, James Lumber Center for the Performing Arts, Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts, Des Plaines Theatre, and Milwaukee’s Riverside Theater.
- Stadiums & Arenas: Wrigley Field, Soldier Field, Rate Field, Seat Geek Stadium, Wintrust Arena, Now Arena, and Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum.
- Music Venues & Nightclubs: The Salt Shed, Radius, Ramova, Aragon Ballroom, and East Troy’s Alpine Valley Music Theater.
- Festivals & Broadcast/AV Units: Lollapalooza, Suenos Fest, North Coast Fest, ARC Fest, Riot Fest, Summer Smash Fest, UIC Pavilion Technicians, Rosalind Franklin College AV/IT Workers, Sound Co-Op, and OSA.
Additionally, Carlson brokered a historic multi-party agreement between Local 2, McCormick Place, Navy Pier, SMG, and the IBEW, which has created thousands of jobs while making Chicago’s convention spaces highly competitive for major producers. His regional portfolio includes venue negotiations spanning Illinois, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Iowa, West Virginia, and Maryland.
Carlson helped lead IATSE into a partnership with Operation Warm. Through this initiative, tens of thousands of underserved children have received brand-new winter coats, library cards, and new books.
