Join the Union Behind Entertainment.
We are more than 170,000 entertainment industry professionals across the United States and Canada, including stagehands, front of house workers, wardrobe attendants, hair and makeup artists, motion picture and television production technicians, broadcast technicians, scenic artists, designers, animators, audiovisual technicians, and more.
We stand together to provide strong representation and win better wages, training, benefits and overall working conditions.
Q: How do you join the IATSE?
A: There are two primary ways to join:
Join an existing IATSE Local Union
The criteria to join the IATSE varies for each Local union. Click here to see which Local covers your craft in your area and learn more about how to apply for membership.
Unionize your workplace.
When you and your coworkers join together to form a union, you have the right to negotiate with your employer as a group.
Contact an Organizer and Unionize your Workplace
This is not an application for work or membership. All submissions are strictly confidential. By submitting this form, you agree to our privacy policy.
How to form a union:
This page focuses on how to unionize in the United States. Click here to visit our Canadian website.
1. Talk to your coworkers
Do you share common concerns about your jobs? Is your employer unwilling to discuss or rectify your concerns? If so, a union may help.
2. Contact an Organizer
A union organizer can help strategize and educate you and your coworkers about the process. Click here to reach out to one.
3. Build Support
In most private sector workplaces, U.S. federal labor law guarantees employees the right to talk to your coworkers about unionizing and other workplace issues, such as pay.
4. Vote!
When a majority of coworkers support joining together, workers typically sign confidential authorization cards to indicate their support. Your employer may voluntarily recognize the union through a "card check" by a neutral third party. If your boss does not agree to a card check or voluntarily recognize the union, we will file a petition with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to request a secret ballot union election.
We've been in the gig economy since 1893.
Our union was built by workers who moved from job to job, facing unpredictable hours, precarious employment and health care, and pay that didn’t reflect their contribution to the industry.
As workers from all corners of the entertainment industry, we are uniquely positioned and have the industry experience to win major gains on hours, continuous health coverage, and other important issues.
Some Rights and Protections IATSE has won on:
Lack of transparency in rates for your job title? Hard to negotiate an increase in your rate?
IATSE HAS WON:
Required, transparent minimum base salaries
Negotiated pay raises
Holiday Pay
Moving from health care plan to health care plan? Having to buy health care yourself or lacking coverage?
IATSE HAS WON:
Industry-wide portable benefits plans (health, pension/annuity, training)
Health care moves with you from employer to employer, continuous coverage
Training for new technology (check out the IATSE Training Trust Fund!)
Working around the clock with no overtime? Working through your breaks?
IATSE HAS WON:
Fair Overtime Pay
A defined number of hours off before you’re expected back at work
Paid ride home or a hotel room to ensure your safety
Meal penalties
Concerned about harassment and discrimination in the workplace?
IATSE HAS WON:
Provided representation and advocacy in discrimination cases
Negotiated stronger protections for LGBTQ folks beyond what local and federal law requires
Won pay parity for historically non-male job classifications
Concerned about health & safety protocols as productions resume in the COVID-19 world?
IATSE HAS WON:
Improved safety standards and enforcement—currently working on “safe return to work” standards with epidemiologists to protect workers returning to productions during COVID-19
Anything that is a term or condition of employment—that people in your workplace want to address—is fair game for bargaining.
IATSE HAS WON:
Recognition of union stewards at job sites, to ensure compliance with contract.
Working on diversity in the hiring pipeline
Creation of an escrow account for at-risk employers to ensure their employees’ wages & benefits are paid
‘Just cause’ requirement for any discipline and/or termination.
