Santiago de Chile – The UNI MEI affiliates of the Americas met in Santiago de Chile, on Dec. 8 and 9 for the 6th PANARTES General Assembly. PANARTES is the Media and Entertainment Industry sector of UNI which covers the Americas.
Elections of officers were held at the General Assembly and International President Matthew D. Loeb was elected to serve as a vice president of PANARTES. In this position, President Loeb will represent the United States and Canada. President Loeb stated that his election to this post “ will further expand the global visibility of the IATSE and provide additional opportunities to work with other organizations that represent workers in our industry and face similar challenges with the ever increasing digital technology.”
Delegates to the General Assembly from various affiliates reaffirmed their commitment to organizing and campaigns for the respect of trade union rights. PANARTES will also continue to develop the regional cooperation targeting in particular co-production in the film sector and multinational media and entertainment companies.
“Our key challenges are to get trade union rights fully respected in all areas of the media, entertainment and arts across the Americas. We need to tackle together the changes our members face as a result of globalization, restructuring of the industries and technological change” PANARTES President Nascimento Silva said. The new leadership will continue to give priority to organizing, regulation and building union alliances regionally and within the global structure of UNI and UNI MEI.
