Andrew “Roo” Oyaas was first unanimously elected International Trustee in June 2017.
A motion picture propmaker by craft, Oyaas serves as Secretary-Treasurer of IATSE Local 491, representing film and television technicians in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Savannah, Georgia vicinity. He has served on the Local 491 Executive Board since 1998. Oyaas has served as Secretary-Treasurer of District 7 since 2008.
A member of the IATSE since 1983, Oyaas was a charter member of IATSE Local 919, and is also a member of IATSE Local 477. In 1999 Oyaas developed a local union Agreement Compliance Audit Program, which he currently runs for IATSE Local 491 and other local unions upon request. He credits his dedication to labor’s issues to growing up in Detroit, Michigan, where he was exposed to the struggles of working men and women in the automotive factories and newspaper printing plants.
Oyaas holds a BA in theatre from the State University of New York College at Plattsburgh, and an MBA from Northeastern University. He is a graduate of the AFL-CIOs National Labor Leader Initiative 2015 program, and a graduate of the inaugural classes of the IATSE Officer Institute 1.0 and 2.0.
