This is a cross-post by Labor Lou. 

A neighborhood on the eastern edge of the L.A. basin and shorthand for the movie and television industries, Hollywood had its own city charter for fewer than 10 years before being annexed by Los Angeles in 1910. By joining L.A., it gained access to the water supply then beginning to flow by aqueduct from the Owens Valley, 233 miles to the north.

D.W. Griffith, Cecil B. DeMille and Charlie Chaplin filmed there but now, in fact, studios and related businesses are situated throughout the Los Angeles metropolitan area, with particular concentrations in Culver City, Burbank, the San Fernando Valley and—of course—the part of town known as Hollywood.

Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and the union's 14 Hollywood locals approved a new three-year contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The 38,000 union members in those locals are camera operators, set decorators, grips and others who work behind the scenes on movies and TV shows. IATSE President Matthew D. Loeb said the Hollywood Basic Agreement,

represents a fair and equitable contract for our members.

UAW members in Wisconsin ratify a new contract with Oshkosh Corp., and more news from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 1,400 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.

Lara Manzione of the National Labor College reports on last night’s “Time to Build” fundraising gala at the college.

Following the first day of the AFL-CIO Executive Council meeting held at the National Labor College (NLC) in Silver Spring, Md., the college hosted a “A Time to Build”  gala last night. The gala honored Mark Ayers, president of the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD), and the presidents of five entertainment  unions:  Ray Hair, American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM); Ken Howard, Screen Actors (SAG); Matthew  Loeb, Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE); Roberta Reardon, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA); and Nick Wyman, Actors’ Equity (AEA).

The next time you download music, a TV program or a video game from the Internet, you may get an alert that you are about to steal copyrighted material.

Internet service providers, payment system operators and motion picture and recording industry officials reached two voluntary agreements last week that will help curb digital theft, copyright infringement and product counterfeiting on the Web.

With workers under attack across the nation, all the major theaters in the Seattle area affirmed their support for workers everywhere to organize and bargain collectively. In a statement, 24 theatrical, sound and stagecraft employers, who all have contracts with the Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 15, said:

We are proud to be a union employer. We are committed to bargain fairly and in good faith with our employees, and to maintaining our history of respect for, and cooperation with, the labor community.

While Republican lawmakers and right-wing talking heads try to demonize the union movement, physicians, nurses, flight instructors, technicians, bakers and more are the latest workers to choose a voice on the job with AFL-CIO unions.

The cancellation of the ABC soap operas “All My Children” and “One Life to Live” will not only deprive  millions of viewers of their favorite shows, it will deprive thousands of union members—actors, crew members, writers and production staff—in Los Angeles and New York of a regular paycheck.

Too few people who download entertainment illegally recognize that they are stealing wages and benefits from workers, Paul Almeida, president of the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees (DPE) told a bipartisan Capitol Hill press conference today.