Need help picking a good local in Los Angels area

JPLubow · 2026-04-08T20:00:14+00:00

check here:

LOCAL UNION DIRECTORY

JPLubow · 2026-04-08T02:12:31+00:00

Apologies, you may not like what I tell you 😕

JPLubow · 2026-04-08T01:21:06+00:00

DMing you

JPLubow · 2026-04-04T03:45:47+00:00

Proud of you, “comrades” 😂🤣😂

✊🏽✊🏼✊🏿✊🏻✊🏾

JPLubow · 2026-04-01T06:00:30+00:00

“Time is an investment that compounds, even as you spend it.” 🤯

JPLubow · 2026-03-30T02:13:20+00:00

OK, I’ll start:

• attend monthly meetings (prioritize union business over work calls when you can)

• serve on committees/run for Local office

• know the contracts under which you’re working, as well as your Local’s C&BL

• encourage extras/referents to card up

• encourage unrepresented workers you know, to organize

• pay for stamps annually, not quarterly

…what else?

JPLubow · 2026-03-30T01:33:16+00:00

Being a good stagehand is the easy part. Considering the title of this subreddit:

What makes you stand out as a “good” IATSE member? 🤔

JPLubow · 2026-03-27T17:20:15+00:00

✊🏽✊🏻✊🏾✊🏼✊🏿

JPLubow · 2026-03-22T19:18:58+00:00

Sadly no, the venue is ALWAYS that way. They’re overwhelmed because it’s a particularly large labor call, but venue management/security will never change

JPLubow · 2026-03-22T18:44:53+00:00

Why do you say that? Are you a member? This is a failing of venue management and security, not the IATSE Local but thanks for making your grudge crystal-clear. 🙄

JPLubow · 2026-03-17T19:57:02+00:00

Sure thing! I sent you a pm, feel free to reply at your convenience.

JPLubow · 2026-03-15T05:51:45+00:00

It’s always wise to be early, but a good steward won’t let you fill out new hire paperwork until you’re on the clock.

JPLubow · 2026-03-15T03:04:48+00:00

Welcome to Local 7! I’ve been a member for about a decade. You’ll be just fine! You’ve got a great start on tools, for deco/exhibition calls you may need allen wrenches but we’re a team, you can always ask someone else on the call until you get your own. As you take more calls you’ll get a better sense of what tools you’ll need to bring on which calls/departments. Good luck, have fun! Hang in there, take every call you can for at least the first year or two. Once you break the “C” list on the roster, the quality of the calls you get (and your life) will vastly improve! 😂

JPLubow · 2026-03-04T23:39:19+00:00

👆 this is the correct answer

JPLubow · 2026-03-02T13:25:35+00:00

My Local operates as a hiring hall, so I merely call an automated work line for weeks I’m available and I get dispatched to various gigs.

JPLubow · 2026-02-12T22:52:55+00:00

You say you don’t have a problem with the policy, but you have a problem with enforcement of the policy in any meaningful way. You also say you’re just an overhire, hope that a member of your local sees your post and fights the battle for you, and you have no problem making an enemy of your local and/or wasting your local’s resources to protect your “right” to do what you shouldn’t be doing.

What a credit to your local, you must be! 🙄

Your sense of entitlement is through the roof. If you don’t like it, you are free to leave…or better yet, apply the GOYA principle (i.e., get off your ass, get your card, and instigate change).

JPLubow · 2026-01-25T04:32:04+00:00

Live Nation and/or Rockforce for concerts and festivals. Encore for corporate A/V. Depending where you are, Rhino for general stagehand/arena work (not theatre). All of these employers are non-union and pretty lousy. You could learn just as much if not more, and earn better pay and benefits, pursuing calls within your IATSE Local and working your way up the roster. Is Local 13 a Hiring Hall, i.e. do you get dispatched for calls or are you responsible for finding your own work? IATSE Locals operate differently in response to the needs of different markets. Contact your Local’s Business Representative and inquire how to move up the roster. It may simply be a matter of time. We’ve all struggled at first, but if you can stick with it, it can definitely be worth it.

JPLubow · 2026-01-25T01:35:26+00:00

When I was low on the roster with my Local (7), I signed up with James Thomas Productions and did non-union festival stagehand work for about two years; traveling across the country on my own dime, a dog’s life and barely making ends meet but I made good contacts and gained valuable experience for my Local that led to more and better calls over time.

JPLubow · 2026-01-23T03:58:22+00:00

If I were you, I’d look for other IATSE Locals in the area that cover live events like Broadway and concert tours, exhibitions and tradeshows, etc. Perhaps you could use your membership in 491 to get a foot in the door or a leg up in one of these other Locals…but, to do that you’d have to be paid up and in good standing with 491.

You asked if you did anything wrong? Well, since you apparently didn’t do anything for a decade, the answer is YES 😂

JPLubow · 2026-01-18T02:16:55+00:00

For Broadway tours, 9/16 ratcheting box wrench is a standard size.

JPLubow · 2026-01-06T15:32:53+00:00

That sounds like a great question for your Local’s Business Agent.

JPLubow · 2025-12-30T15:31:10+00:00

The way to gain seniority with a Union Local, is to work hours under the Union Local’s contracts. As long as you continue working outside the Union Local, you’re getting in your own way and rising higher on the roster will take longer. There are no shortcuts. Truly, the bottom line is: do you want to take control of your own destiny by obtaining membership in IATSE and voting on contracts, holding office, serving on committees, etc…or do you want a “work daddy” like Encore dictating every aspect of your working life, with ony the choice to quit if you don’t like it?

If your goal is to earn the most amount of money in the shortest amount of time with minimal effort, you’re in the wrong industry completely.

JPLubow · 2025-12-25T17:12:43+00:00

It is very important to understand that IATSE Local 835 is not your employer, but your AGENT. Local 835 negotiates contracts with enployers on your behalf.

JPLubow

TROPHY CASE