Friday, Jan. 7, 2005 | 11:10 a.m.
The International Alliance of Stage Employees Local 720, the union that represents stagehands at most Strip properties, has elected a new slate of officers to replace two trustees appointed by the union's international leadership in 2002.
The 1,800-member union voted in two elections to select the new officers, Hal Ritzer, the union's newly elected president, said. One election was held Dec. 15 and a group of officers, including Ritzer, were sworn in on Dec. 17, while a run-off election was held Wednesday to choose four other officers set to be sworn in today. The elections were overseen by the U.S. Labor Department.
The workers perform a range of functions at most Strip properties, Ritzer said, including handling the lighting and sets for stage shows along with wardrobe functions. The members also perform some work in the convention industry setting up and breaking down sets.
"Our members are multi-talented," Ritzer said about the union's functions. "We have women that can one day be a dresser and the next be hanging lights."
A dispute between the International Union and a group of former leaders of Local 720 is still pending in U.S. District Court over the way the trusteeship was implemented. U.S. District Court Judge Howard McKibben ruled late last year that the trusteeship would remain until an election was held, with a deadline of Wednesday.
However, the trusteeship won't be officially dissolved until McKibben orders it, Michael Urban, an attorney for the group of former leaders.
IATSE spokeswoman Lindajo Loftus declined to comment on the lawsuit or the end of the trusteeship. On Dec. 14 the international union did say in a news release that Local 720, "continues to expand its reach throughout the city of Las Vegas with organizing efforts and contract renewals." The news release touts the achievements the union made under the trustees' leadership.
The news release said the union recently organized 13 wardrobe technicians at Circus Circus, signed a three-year agreement with Magic Hour Lighting and Grip Rental and tenatatively concluded negotiations on the renewal of an agreement with Freeman Decorating Co. to provide supplemental labor in the convention industry for Teamsters Local 631.
Ritzer said the international union implemented the trusteeship and kept the trusteeship going long after the 18 months allowed by the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959, because the international sees the local as a source of money from dues the members pay. He said under the trustees' leadership, the union grew its membership base, but the union wasn't gaining enough new contracts to go around for the increased number of members.
"Their income is derived from the membership that they bring into the international through what they call per capita tax," Ritzer said. "The more members they bring in the greater their revenue. But unfortunately bringing new members in is not to the advantage of the membership."
The union was led by two trustees appointed by the international union, Dennis Brook and Robert Trombetta, until Dec. 17 when the new officers were sworn in. Ritzer said IATSE President Thomas Short, ceded leadership of the union to the local leaders in a Dec. 24 letter. The international trustees left in late December, Ritzer said. The letter stated that the trusteeship ended on Dec. 17.
The lawsuit alleges Short fraudulently obtained a letter from officers of Local 720 enabling IATSE to revoke Local 720's charter and to establish the trusteeship. The lawsuit also alleges Short fraudulently induced the officers to transfer the title of the union's property to the international union.
Ritzer said the dispute between the international union and the local won't settled until the two sides come to an agreement that is satisfactory to Local 720's leadership.
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