490 Officers Attend Union Training in Atlanta.
/490 President Matt Muegge and Secretary Bryan Bredahl attended the IATSE Officer Institute. April 30- May 4th, 2018.
490 President Matt Muegge stands with with IA President Matt Loeb and 490 Secretary Bran Bredahl in Atlanta.
490 President Muegge reflected on the week in Atlanta and said,
" The IATSE Officer Institute was highly beneficial to myself as an officer of Local 490, as well as to our entire local. I learned so much: labor law, negotiation, organizing productions, dealing with the financial aspects of a local, the history of unions, how to better run meetings, and leadership skills... to name just some of what we were taught. We also made some good connections with officers from other Locals located around the country. My week in Atlanta for the training has given me a new, avid sense of optimism for the heights which I believe Local 490 can reach."
the thick binder handed to each officer in attendance.
Secretary Bredhal describes the event as;
"President Muegge and I were lucky enough to attend the 2018 IATSE Officer Training. It was an amazing opportunity for us both.
When we arrived at our first class on Monday, we didn’t know how intense the training would be. We would soon find out as the week progressed. The training started with an enjoyable program called the IATSE Road Show. It was a great full day course on why Unions matter.
IA President Loeb addresses the Institute.
The training reached its climax on Tuesday, with a full-blown assault on our brains on labor laws and finance. These where the most hard hitting out of all the courses. A lot of was thrown at us. Luckily the training gave us binders with all the training in it and a website for more cross referencing. The rest of week we learned about; organizing, how to handle difficult situations, engage in contract negotiations (another intense one) and how to not burn out with time management strategies.
Bredahl & Muegge stand with members from Local 476 Chicago, Dick Oates, Joseph Connelly & others.
Bredahl continues, "When we didn’t have class a lot of us got together for lunch and dinner just to talk about idea on how to help each other with membership involvement, growing our numbers, how they handle contracts negotiations, and other committees. We are coming back with a lot of ideas to help our own Local. This was one of the best things for our Local. We recommend that more of our officers."
Muegge & Bredahl stand with Local 13 Officer Carrie Monroe.
The IA describes the training as;
"A five-day, intensive certification program, with courses ranging from Labor Law and Collective Bargaining to Union Finance, to managing day to day challenges and dealing with conflict. Instructors are experts in their fields and classes will provide hands-on, practical tools to be brought back to the local".
"The program aims to establish a unified base of knowledge and strengthen the whole IATSE. While Leadership Development is the primary focus of the course, all of the Four Pillars, including Communications, Activism, and Craft Skills and Safety Training, will be emphasized. Having local union leaders better prepared for their positions will reinforce the Four Pillars in the service of our core focus – always growing and strengthening the IATSE and its local unions for the benefit of our workers in the entertainment industry."
Local 490 is thrilled that we have progressed to this point of being able to send officers to the Training Institute. We are grateful to have officers that want to make this commitment and they are happy our membership is keen on sending them. 490 is growing in more ways than one and this is a concrete example of this.