On July 22, 2024 the IATSE General Executive Board voted unanimously to extend its endorsement to Vice President Kamala Harris for President of the United States, following President Joe Biden’s decision not to seek reelection and his subsequent full support and endorsement of Harris’ candidacy.
The Biden-Harris White House has been the most pro-union administration in history and Vice President Harris has played a pivotal role in delivering landmark policies and legislation to benefit IATSE workers.
Kamala Harris has consistently stood with us
and we’re going to stand with her.
On issues affecting IATSE and its members, Kamala Harris’ record of support is clear:
- In her capacity as Vice President, Harris cast the tie-breaking, 51st vote in the Senate to pass the American Rescue Plan Act, providing IATSE members the pandemic relief we needed to stay safe until a return to work was possible.
- She joined President Biden in inviting a young IATSE organizer to the White House to lift up our organizing successes in animation.
- She led the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment and engaged IATSE to provide input on executive actions that will increase worker organizing and empowerment in our industries.
The Biden-Harris administration has actively sought to include the voices of IATSE behind-the-scenes entertainment workers in decisions that impact our industries and workplaces. IATSE has had a seat at the table and unprecedented opportunities to weigh-in on policy decisions that impact our members. We have every confidence that will continue under the leadership of Kamala Harris as President and Tim Walz as Vice President.
Biden-Harris administration accomplishments for IATSE workers and our industries:
- The Biden-Harris administration’s pro-worker appointees to the Department of Labor and National Labor Relations Board have made it easier to organize and crack down on the misclassification of our workers as independent contractors, paving the way for workers in hair and makeup, visual effects, animation, gaming, and more, to organize and join the IATSE.
- They reestablished the “President’s Committee on Arts and Humanities” and appointed labor leaders to ensure workers had a seat at the table.
- They collaborated with Congress to achieve record funding levels for the NEA & NEH; money that goes towards projects our members work on.
- The administration’s agency that oversees our country’s international trade collaborated with IATSE and other arts unions to report on the adverse impact of online piracy on workers.
- Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, a former union member, visited IATSE Local 720 in Las Vegas to talk about the return of live events after the pandemic and the issues we still faced. Then, Secretary Walsh’s replacement, Acting Secretary Julie Su, visited the local again for an update on work in the industry.
- Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su invited an IATSE member to participate in a panel that addressed the critical role that unions play in achieving equity for workers of color and creating career pathways in the arts and entertainment industries.
After four years of proven advocacy and policies that benefit workers, the choice for IATSE members and working people is clear. Powered by the strength of the IATSE membership, we will put the full weight of our Alliance behind the Harris-Walz ticket to continue the progress we’ve made the last 4 years
“Just the Facts” – Remembering the Labor Record of the Trump Administration
Regardless of how you feel about former President Trump, his administration made workplaces more dangerous, anti-union forces more formidable, and our retirement security more uncertain.
Trump’s labor record:
- Slashing rules designed to protect us on the job, cutting workplace health and safety inspectors to their lowest level in history, and taking away overtime pay from millions of workers.
- The Trump administration defended “right to work” laws that lead to lower pay for working people and higher pay for corporate CEOs. His first Supreme Court appointee, Neil Gorsuch, was the deciding vote to impose “right to work” on public employees nationwide.
- The President dictates the greater administration. His Secretary of Labor was a career union-busting lawyer, Eugene Scalia. The five-member National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) was composed of three Republican Trump appointees, with two Democratic seats held vacant. Only three members are needed for a quorum to rule.
- The Trump NLRB systematically rolled back workers’ rights to form unions and engage in collective bargaining with their employers. It acted as a department of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, fulfilling all 10 of the Chamber’s top labor law priorities.
- In 2017 President Trump signed into law a massive tax giveaway to big corporations and the wealthy. This law (the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act) eliminated workers’ ability to deduct business expenses like our equipment, travel for work, and union dues. This caused an industrywide tax increase for union creative professionals.
- An Open Letter to Donald Trump: You Lost My Vote When You Crossed My Picket Line
