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Loc
al 7
Det
THE
BULLETIN
Local 728 studio electrical lighting technicians
the only iatse local dedicated to set lighting
Chartered
May 15, 1939
Full color version available at www.iatse728.org
the
‘Dad’
A behind the scenes
look at
Ron Dahlquist
in
28 H
ails
olid
a
on P y Part
y!
age
8
hollywood
CALIFORNIA
Vol. 24; No. 8
2014
DADCO
the patriarch of the multi-generational
Local 728 family and owner of DADCO
The Local 728 signatory company includes Back Row (L-R): Greg Stewart, Julio Zamudio, Luis Garcia
and Chris Zorc; Front Row (L-R): Tony Garvalena, Philip Muskett, Ted Conroy,
Shelia Dahlquist, Ron Dahlquist, Jesse Guerrero, Gabriel Zamudio and Oscar Valle
There are many benefits to union membership ... providing
financial assistance through our scholarship program
is one we can all be proud of.
It’s
scholarship Time
by Greg Reeves, President
H
ello Brothers and Sisters,
In lieu of my column I wanted to take a moment to make you aware that it is
scholarship time again. Our union offers a number of scholarships for our sons and
daughters heading to university next fall. Please take a moment to review the guidelines
and consider applying. Good luck!
17th Annual Local 728 Scholarship Awards
The Officers and Members of Local 728 are pleased to offer scholarship awards.
This year’s awards will be granted to high school students graduating in 2015.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE?
The rules of eligibility for the 17th Annual Local 728 Scholarship Awards state that
an applicant must:
a) Be the daughter/son of a member in good standing of Local 728.
b) Be a high school senior at the time of application.
c) Have applied, or about to apply for admission to an accredited college, university or
vocational program as a fully matriculated student.
d) Use the scholarship award within the academic year awarded.
HOW TO APPLY?
1. An application is to be requested by contacting Local 728 at the address below or
downloading the application from the Local’s website at www.iatse728.org.
2. The application is then to be completed and returned to Local 728 along with required
documentation below.
3. A complete sealed copy of the applicant’s high school transcript is also to be submitted to
Local 728.
4. The record of scores achieved by the applicant on the Scholastic Aptitude Test, college
entrance examination, or other equivalent examination may also be submitted, either by the
student or by the testing organization.
5. At least three (3) letters of recommendation should be submitted for inclusion in an
applicant’s file and will be accepted from any of the following: Teachers, Counselors,
Clergy, Community Service Organizations, Employers, etc.
6. In addition each applicant will be required to have a personal interview with the selection
committee on March 28, 2015.
DEADLINE?
The deadline for filing all of the above required materials with Local 728 is
December 31, 2014. The winners of the scholarship awards will be notified by Local 728
in April 2015 and will be announced in a future issue of the Local 728 Bulletin.
I.AT.S.E. LOCAL 728
1001 W. Magnolia Boulevard, Burbank, California 91506
818-954-0728/ 818-954-0732 Fax
Website: www.iatse728.org Email: [email protected]
PAGE 2
I.A.T.S.E.
Local 728
Hollywood, California
President
Greg Reeves
Vice President
Karen Weilacher
Business Rep-Secretary
Patric J. Abaravich
Treasurer-Call Steward
Pascal M. Guillemard
Executive Board
Branch Brunson
Joseph Gallo
Darryl Herzon
Jim Krattiger
Roger L. Lattin
Iain O’Higgins
R. Bruce Prochal
David Watson
Sergeant-At-Arms
Richard McConihay
Parliamentarian
Alan M. Rowe
Safety & Training
Alan M. Rowe, Director
Shop Stewards
CBS - John L. Murray
Fox - Gina M. Isaacs
Paramount - Frank Valdez
Sony - John Jacobs
Universal - John Kennedy
Warner Bros. Chris Hathaway
CLC Delegates
Patric J. Abaravich
Dennis k. Grow
Pascal M. Guillemard
Rick Kelley
Iain O’Higgins
S. Cricket Peters
Greg Reeves
Alan M. Rowe
Office Staff
Sean Harkess
Julianna Bessey
Claudia Smith
The Bulletin
Publisher
Margie Stites
Editor
Greg Reeves
IATSE LOCAL 728
1-800-551-2158
1-818-954-0728
Making Sure Retirees
Get All the Benefits
They’re Entitled to
Union
Spotlight
Deceased
Brother Kenneth Schneider, 52 years old, a member
since May 9, 1987, passed
away September 21, 2014.
Brother James T. Wuertemburg, 71 years old, a member
since June 13, 1966, passed
away October 18, 2014.
Brother Kurt Johnson, 63
years old, a member since
May 13, 1994 passed away
October 25, 2014.
Brother John David Walker, 26 years old, a member
since July 16, 2011, passed
away November 2, 2014.
Brother Tommy Holmes, 53
years old, a member since
November 9, 1996, passed
away November 12, 2014.
First Notice
James Bond, Trevor Crist,
Mike J. Hennessy III, Blaine
Munro, Gregory James
Owen II, Juan Romero and
Derek Wilds.
Second Notice
Amy Jackson, Daniel
Jimenez, Morgan Smith and
Armando Tello.
New members
Congratulations to the
following new members who
were sworn in on October 9:
James M. Beaghan II, October 31, Todd Brown and
on November 11: Adrienne
Garcia.
The Next
General
Membership
Meeting
will be held on
January 17, 2015
9:00 a.m. sharp
IATSE Local 728
1001 W. Magnolia Blvd.,
Burbank
Please Bring Your
Union Card
by Patric J. Abaravich, Business Representative, Secretary
O
ver the last several years I’ve
been focusing on getting better
health and welfare benefits for all
members. I’ve been particularly working
with our retirees to make sure they get
all the benefits they’re entitled to, and
I’ve been very involved with helping hurt
and injured members with Social Security
awards.
Right now we are in open enrollment
for Medicare so this column is geared
for all of our seasoned members getting
ready to retire. (This may not affect you
personally, but please read on. You could
pass this information on to some retirees,
or work buddies thinking of retiring, that
may not see this column.)
I must preface that we do our best
to get it right but information changes.
Please do your due diligence and explore
all your options and research information
with Medicare, MPI and Social Security.
Medicare
We are currently in the Medicare
Open Enrollment period. This is the
period when you can make changes to
your Medicare health or prescription
drug coverage.
For those of you currently not receiving Medicare benefits, three months
before your 65th birthday, you should
receive a letter from Social Security telling you to enroll in Medicare. You need
to apply for Medicare Parts A (hospitalization; which we’ve paid into our whole
working life) and Part B (medical). Your
cost for Part B will be deducted from
your monthly directly deposited Social
Security income.
This is only applicable if you are retired. If you’re actively working, and plan
to do so after the age of 65, you’re considered an active member in the MPIPH
plans. However, it is highly recommended that you sign up for Medicare. You
don’t have to activate it, but at least you’ll
be in the system. This way, if you decide
to enroll or if you need to go on MediPAGE 3
care quickly you won’t have to wait for
the open enrollment period. When you’re
approaching 65 you have a one-time
enrollment period lasting four months
– three months prior to your birthday
and one month after. If you miss your
one-time enrollment period, you have to
wait for open enrollment in the fall. Like
I said, it’s not mandatory to sign up for
Medicare if you plan to work past 65, but
if something catastrophic happens and
you don’t have it, it could cause a lot of
financial problems.
Medicare Part D
(Prescription Drug Coverage)
Because the MPI Health Plans include
prescription drug coverage that is considered to be “Creditable Coverage,” you
are not required to enroll in the Medicare
Part D prescription drug coverage program. “Creditable Coverage” is defined
by Medicare as: Prescription drug coverage (for example, from an employer or
union) that’s expected to pay, on average,
at least as much as Medicare’s standard
prescription drug coverage. It is important to remember that if you enroll in a
Medicare Part D prescription drug plan,
you will forfeit your MPI prescription
drug benefits.
Social Security Disability and
Medicare
For our members who are receiving Social Security Disability and who are under
the age of 65 or who are in the process
of waiting for your SSI (Supplemental
Security Insurance) award, MPI will stay
your primary coverage for two years after
your award is given. After that, you have
to sign up for Medicare. You could be 58
years old and get your award. When you
turn 60 you have to sign up for Medicare.
MPI will shift to your secondary coverage
and Medicare will be your primary.
It’s important you’re aware of this.
Please do not trust Social Security or
Continued on Page 7
the
‘Dad’
in
DADCO
In addition to running DADCO, Ron - at his manufacturing facility in Sunland also works as a consultant and Director of Operations at Santa Clarita Studios.
E
ven if you’re new to the Local, chances are you’ve heard
the name ‘Dahlquist.’ The
multi-generational Dahlquists have
been a fixture in our union family for
decades. Patriarch of the large clan is
Ron – who also is the ‘dad’ in “DADCO,” the family-owned company and
first signatory Local 728 manufacturer
of lighting fixtures and portable power
distribution equipment.
With over 16 family members who
have been, or are currently in, Local
728, what some may not know is that
they’re not all Dahlquists. Family
members’ last names include Bowman, Etheredge, Baker, Youngblood,
Marsick and Skyler.
“It’s been a fantastic association,”
Ron noted. “There are not many
industries that you get to work closely
with family and have a chance to
really develop those relationships.
Most people go to work for a company and work with other co-workers
who aren’t relatives so they don’t have
that interaction. The constant moving
of the different personnel you get to
work with – and in my case, working with a lot of family members – is
unique. I’m very fortunate.”
The Dahlquist legacy was cemented
in foundation in 1935 when Ron’s father,
George Henry (“Popeye”) started working in the entertainment industry. That
career move also brought love: Popeye
met Winonah (the Dahlquist matriarch
and Ron’s mother) in 1939 while on location in Eugene, Oregon on the film Abe
Lincoln in Illinois. Throughout his storied
calling, the popular and hardworking
gaffer worked on many of the classics
including The Birds and countless John
Wayne films.
However, the silver screen wasn’t his
only forte. Popeye was also a pioneer in
television, working in the industry at
the very beginning. The elder Dahlquist
worked for KTLA, a branch of Paramount and the first commercial television station in Los Angeles (only the
seventh in the country at the time) and
the first to broadcast west of the Mississippi River.
But the new era had a setback: The
number of homes with a television set in
Los Angeles County was estimated at 350
to 600. As luck would have it, the large
Dahlquist family just happened to be one
of them.
“Our family was one of the first to
have a TV and a TV antenna in North
Hollywood,” Ron recalled. “When they
started broadcasting they used to call our
PAGE 4
house to see if we had a signal!”
Although Winonah was still hanging
clothes outside on the line, the family
did have a TV.
“My mother would often comment
that we got a TV before we got a clothes
dryer or an air conditioner,” Ron recounted with a chuckle.
That’s just one of the many fond
memories Ron has of growing up in the
big house with seven siblings – a home
he just sold after living in it for 74 years.
“We would all sit around and watch
the screen and the test pattern waiting
for Sheriff John to come on at 5 o’clock.
You could tell when it was getting ready
to broadcast because they would show
the Paramount Matterhorn and then
when the stars would start to go around
it the show was getting ready to start.”
Popeye’s love of the business kept him
working until he was nearly 80. After
decades of working at the town’s busiest
studios including Universal, Republic
and Disney, he gaffed his last show, The
Fall Guy, at the age of 78.
Proudly following in his father’s
footsteps, Ron got into the business in
1962. “I started out on the rigging crew
and worked at all the major studios and
a lot of the independents. I worked a lot
with Local 33 and at many of the net-
A behind the scenes
look at
Ron Dahlquist
the patriarch of the
multi-generational
Local 728 family and
owner of DADCO
DADCO manufactures a complete line of HMI, tungsten and par light fixtures along
with portable power distribution units, and rents portable generators.
works, too – ABC, CBS … starting out
it was tough to get your card. There was
a roster system and it took a long time.
It took me five years to get my Local
728 card but that time also gave me a lot
of experience working at the different
studios.”
By 1976, Ron had worked his way up
from rigger to best boy to Chief of Set
Lighting at Paramount Studios, when
his entrepreneurial side was once again
inspired. Ron had always had businesses
on the side – he owned a meat business
and farmed alfalfa (he still owns the
80-acre Lucerne Valley ranch) – and in
1978 started the rental company Keylite
Production Services, Inc. with Local 728
brother Ed Carlin.
“It seemed obvious to me at the time
that the new HMI light was going to
replace the arc light and Paramount was
going to lead the way. Even though I was
the Chief of the Set Lighting Department, I didn’t have the expertise needed
for AC power supply that was necessary for the HMI lighting system,” Ron
recalled. “So, I took a night course at
Pasadena City College on electrical technology and later a course at Los Angeles
City Trade Tech. This led to developing
many of the products and systems now
in use that replaced the DC system.”
Leaving Paramount and starting
Keylite provided Ron with the opportunity to develop a completely
new lighting and power distribution
system. But, “We soon discovered the
lamp operators were unfamiliar with
working with AC and several accidents
happened.”
Keylite then spearheaded workshops
for Local 728 members. That evolved
into the A.S.L.D. training sessions
which contributed greatly to the training program offered today.
After selling his share of Keylite in
1994, Ron Started DADCO with Mike
De Lorenzo of Cinemobile. The company purchased Production Lights and
Sunray Manufacturing. The company
manufactures a complete line of HMI,
tungsten and par light fixtures along
with portable power distribution units,
and rents portable generators.
DADCO also developed the
NITESUN with Local 728 brother
Mark Haberman that features 4-G4
24K HMI units, remotely controlled
on a 100-foot boom truck with an
onboard generator. Over time, DADCO added a new line of equipment
– Filmgear Lighting Systems – that
includes LED, HMI Fluorescent and
Tungsten fixtures.
PAGE 5
“All of our equipment at DADCO
Sunray is assembled at our shop in
Sun Valley by Local 728 members, and
is listed to U.L. Standards by E.T.L.,”
he said. And since Ron has also put
an emphasis on skill and knowledge,
DADCO sponsors many of the training
workshops offered, and encourages
members to try their new equipment
out on-set during free trial periods.
“The greatest achievement has been
the ability to include our company as
an IATSE signatory company and to
participate as a Trustee and instructor
in the IA training program,” he said.
“I consider it an honor and a privilege
to give back to the industry that has
supported me and my family for 75
years and four generations of Local 728
family members.”
In addition to running Dadco, Ron
also works as a consultant and Director
of Operations at Santa Clarita Studios.
Not one to slow down anytime soon,
Ron does look back gratefully. “I have
great memories and I’m very lucky to
have worked with so many of my family members. We’ve all benefited from
the industry and Local 728.”
A d d r e ss i n g t h e
A n n ua l Q u e s t i o n :
Dues
by Pascal M. Guillemard, Treasurer-Call Steward
L
et’s get this annual question out of
the way:
Are Active member dues going up
in 2015? Yes they are. $5.00 per quarter,
to $240.00 per quarter, or $960.00 for the
year. Last year our membership chose not
to raise our dues, even though the Local’s
per capita costs went up $2.00 per member.
This year our membership decided
to retain the dues motion of 80% of an
8-hour day’s pays at lamp operator rate,
rounded off to the nearest $5.00 at the
Basic Agreement scale. This will cause this
modest increase to take effect on January
1st. Active member dues provides our active members with a $20,000 life insurance
policy along with an additional $20,000 for
accidental death or dismemberment.
Retiree dues will be $102 per year for
retirees. This amount represents ½ and full
per capita costs respectively and provides
our retirees with a $10,000 life insurance
policy. At the November Membership
Meeting a motion to offer a second dues
plan with a $20,000 life insurance benefit
will be discussed and voted on
What is per capita? It is the obligation
the Local has to the International for each
active 728 member, regardless of your
status in the industry (active or retired). It
is represented by the stamp you receive in
your union card (you know, the card that
you’re supposed to mail in every quarter).
It is one of the largest annual budget
expenses the Local has along with our
life insurance policy, payroll expense, and
operating expense.
Our Constitution & By-Laws stipulate
that our assessments shall be due and
payable on or before the first day of the
fiscal quarter. Anyone accepting employment while delinquent shall be subject to a
$50 fine per offense. These two rules have
been in effect and unchanged since at least
1983, which is when our current C&BL’s
were approved. Back then, scale for lamp
operators was $13.78 per hour, the fine
represented almost 50% of a day’s pay!
There’s a commonly held assumption
that if you get your payment envelope
postmarked on or before the first day of
the new quarter that dues are considered
to have been received in a timely fashion
even if it takes several days for the post
office to deliver the envelope. This is
incorrect. Payment must be received on or
before the first day of the new quarter. If
you’re mailing in a check, please make sure
that you send it early enough so that it gets
delivered to the Local on or before the
first day of the new quarter. Also, if you
are delinquent, and tragedy should befall
you, your Local 728 life insurance policy is
not in effect. Your beneficiaries would not
receive your policy benefits.
We send out email reminders of
upcoming dues dates. Please make sure
to keep us informed of your current
email address. We do not send postal mail
reminders. Also, you can use a recurring
reminder on your mobile device.
Now that all the obligatory heavy lifting
news is out of the way, I hope everyone
understands that as Treasurer-Call Steward
I have the responsibility of ensuring that
we meet our obligations. I wish I never
had to send notices of working while
delinquent to any member. The Local can
offer a limited amount of flexibility and
is always willing to offer solutions to a
member who is experiencing a financial
difficulty. Finding a way for our members
in need to get to work, get paid and take
care of their obligations is part of what we
do to keep our Local 728 family strong. We
all experience tough times at some point.
Being a member of this union means that
PAGE 6
Important
Information
Regarding
HIRING
Any Local 728 member representing an employer by filling calls
or who is in need of assistance with
such, must contact the Local office
during business hours, 8:00 a.m. to
6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday
by calling 818-954-0728, texting
to 818-438-0728 or emailing tcs@
iatse728.org.
If you urgently need to fill a call
outside of regular business hours,
you must contact the Call Steward
at 818-438-0728.
Members seeking weekend work
should notify the Call Steward on
Friday during business hours.
Anyone who hires off roster or
hires any member who is not current
with their dues may have charges
filed against them and are subject to
assessment penalties.
we are here for each other when the chips
are down. However, we cannot help each
other without good communication, so
please call before a problem compounds
itself.
Our database improvement project is
in place and stable. We are going to begin
work towards the next phase, improving
our website and adding online transaction
capabilities. We will build what is necessary
to provide a safe and secure online portal
in the coming New Year. Our oft stated
goal is to have online dues payment, updating your work skills and job preference list,
putting your name on or taking it off the
availability list, all from wherever you are,
using a mobile device or a computer. We
will still be able to call in to do our business by phone, but who wouldn’t like the
option of taking care of our needs with a
few clicks or swipes?
As we approach the holiday season, I
hope that we are all blessed with the ability
to enjoy the company of our friends and
family after what has been a remarkable
year of great achievement through the
solidarity and hard work of our remarkable
membership.
- Pascal
Opportunities are plenty to sharpen
your skills and advance your career
by Alan M. Rowe, Safety & Training Director
W
hat makes us different than everyone else is what we provide to
each and every one of our productions. Local 728 members bring knowledge and skills to the job that have been
crafted by thousands of members over the
course of 75 years. Local 728 members are
dedicated to our work not only as a means
to make a living but to influence an entire
industry. The influences of this work can
be seen in the design of distribution and
other electrical equipment used in every
aspect of entertainment. We have worked
hard to earn the stature and we must continue to work hard to keep it. As a Local 728 member, you have lots
of opportunities to sharpen your skills and
advance your career. We are in this industry
because we love the work and we all put
everything we have into doing the best job
we can. This focus will often exclude other
things, some of which are very important.
Some things we can’t ignore are obvious;
we can’t overlook our families, can’t ignore
our health, and we all know the perils if
we forget to pay our taxes. One area that
is frequently overlooked is career development. If we don’t take the time to improve
our skills and make ourselves more valuable
on set, someone else will and our skills will
become irrelevant. There is always room to
improve and there are plenty of opportunities to learn something new that can make
you more money. Our Skills Training Program offers
classes on most weekends and during
the week during hiatus seasons. We offer
everything from basic electricity through
media servers. Most of our classes are
taught by Local 728 members who bring
their firsthand experience to the class. We
have over 54 class options and classes are
offered based on interest. Classes range
from four to eight hours in length and most
are held at the local. If there is a topic that
you have a particular interest in, please let
me know. Most classes can be arranged for
as few as eight members and we have even
trained entire crews in topics such as DMX
Networking. If you would like to see a
class, please let me know and we will make
it happen. We also have the option of partial
reimbursement for some training provided
by local Vendors. This year several members have been partially reimbursed for the
monthly three-day lighting console classes
provided by ETC. We also have partial
reimbursements available for training on
Whole Hogs, GrandMAs, Martin Moving
Lights, Richard Cadena’s Entertainment
Electrician Seminars, the PRG Institute,
Green Hippo Media Server, Pandora’s Box,
and Live Design Master Classes. The schedules for these classes are at the discretion
of the company and the rules for the partial
reimbursement vary so it is very important
to contact me prior to signing up for any
of these classes. In most cases, you will
need to be pre-approved for reimbursement
prior to signing up for the class. The required Safety Pass classes are a
completely different animal and are not affiliated in any way with Local 728’s Training
Program. We cannot schedule these classes
and we have no control over the content.
With all that, I do want to remind everyone
that we are required to take a new class,
Traditional Insert Car Safety. While our timeline ends on March 31, 2015 I recommend
that you take the class as soon as you can.
If you forget about it, you may become
ineligible to work. Sharpening your skills doesn’t only help
you, it helps all of us and makes Local 728
the obvious choice for Set Lighting Technicians. A highly trained and skilled membership promotes our reputation and sets
our work as the standard for the industry.
For more information and to receive notice
when new classes are scheduled, please visit
www.training728.org.
up to 26, if you have retired, MPI’s retiree
plan is a separately managed plan than the
active plan and it does not cover dependents up to 26. The law says if you have
two separate plans then the retiree plan
does not have to cover your dependents
up to the age of 26.
entertainment industry (or their surviving
spouses) collect over $200,000 in benefits.
I know many of our members are veterans, and we have many surviving spouses
of veterans. We’re reaching out to let
you know about important benefits you
may be eligible for and to let you know
assistance is available to start the claims
process if you qualify.
Some of the eligibility requirements
include age 65 or over; veteran must have
served a minimum of 90 days active duty
with at least one day during a period of
Business Rep’s Column
Continued from Page 3
MPI to inform you that your time frame
is up. Do whatever it takes to remind
yourself that you have two years, then you
have to shift (enroll) in Medicare.
Medicare, Your Spouse and
Your Dependents
For those of you retiring and signing up for Medicare but who are lucky
enough to have a younger spouse, MPI
will continue to be their primary insurance
until they turn 65. And although the Affordable Care Act will cover dependents
Retired Veterans’ Awards
Another area we’ve been working
on with MPTF is a program for retired
veterans. In less than two years, MPTF
has helped retired military veterans in the
Continued on Page 8
PAGE 7
Studio Electrical Lighting Technicians
I.A.T.S.E. Local 728
1001 W. Magnolia Blvd.
Burbank, California 91506
NONPROFIT
US POSTAGE
PAID
HUNT. BCH CA
PERMIT #438
Visit Your Local at
You’re Cordially Invited!
Local 728 Holiday Party
Saturday, December 13, 2014
6 p.m. to Midnight
Montrose Bowl, 2334 Honolulu St., Montrose
Join your Local 728 Brothers and Sisters as we celebrate
the holidays with a festive gathering!
Bowling
Buffet Dinner Karaoke
Pictures with Santa
Face Painting
For questions or to RSVP, please contact Jarrod Hettler
via email at [email protected]
or by cell, 818-458-9554
www.iatse728.org
Business Rep’s Column
Continued from Page 7
war (service did not have to be active combat); had to be honorably discharged; have
less than $80,000 in assets and with current
or anticipated care needs in at least two
activities of daily living (bathing, dressing,
walking, feeding, etc.). The application
process can take 6 to 24 months so you
should explore your eligibility and file your
paperwork as soon as possible.
I hope you find all of this information
helpful and a good starting point. I’ve
included websites for each of these areas
so you can start your own research. As
always, I’m available if I can be of any
assistance. Just give me a holler at the hall.
Contact Info
Motion Picture Industry
Pension & Health Plans
www.mpiphp.org
Medicare
www.medicare.org
Social Security Disability
www.ssa.gov/disabilityssi
MPTF Retired Veterans’ Awards
Contact Naomi Rodda at 323-634-3874 or
email at [email protected]