What follows is a brief synopsis of the caucus we held on July 16th. Please feel free to chime in if there is something I missed and we will try to include it in the newsletter.

First, I want to say thank you to those of you who took some of your precious time to join us, especially those who are on shows. I was suprised and gratified by the large turnout. We discussed a number of subjects and I mention here the ones that stuck in my mind.

A strong topic of discussion was respect for locations - picking up and disposal of trash. remediation of any damage, and removal of signage, etc. Trach has always been craft services responsiblity, in fact it is one of the primary responsibilities. There is no question on this -period.
If locations, or any other department want to help you that is fine, but help is all it is. It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITIY to make sure that the trash is picked up and properly disposed of. If it is not, don't look to anyone else but yourself. Here are my personal suggestions: there is no such thing as too many trash cans on a set. I don't care if they are pop-ups, hard cans, or cardboard boxes with liners; but you really can't expect people to go around looking for a trash can. You should empty these cans as necessary, and always at the end of the night. Then place the trash in an area that locations has identified for you - such as a dumpster or central spot that the teamsters can find. At the conclusion of a location you should be (along with the locations representative) the last person out. You shouldn't leave until you both agree that the location is clean. If that's not possible because it's dark, there are turnaround issues, or the teamsters have left and there is no way to dispose of the trash, then you should return the next day or make arrangements for one of your crew to return the next day. Abandoning a location is NOT AN OPTION. If the production company gives you grief over this refer them to me. You also can't be hauling large amounts of wet trash in your trucks or trailers - that is a health department issue, not a Union issue.

Another hot topic was the delineation between craft service and catering. The lines have become increasingly blurred over the last few years. In Los Angeles it reached the point where the IA felt that the Craft Servie Local (727) (of which I was a proud member), had abandoned its' traditional jurisdiction and they revoked its' charter and merged it with Local 80. If that's not a clear message I don't know what is. The Teamsters cover cook/drivers, therefore, they cover caterers. If you want to be a cook/driver GREAT - there is a shortage of them, but I will insist that there is a craft service person on the show as the contract calls for. Union craft service people don't cook, either here or in Los Angeles. If you want an example of a Los Angeles Union craft service person look to "Wild Hogs". Teddy did a great job, but he wasn't preparing little snacks from scratch - that's a pro. Your primary responsibility is, as it always has been, the assistance of other crafts (after all that's where the name came from), providing beverages appropriate for the time of day, taking care of the trash, and if you have time after fulfilling these reponsibilities, susteanance between meals. You are not junior caterers. We're going to make it clear to the production companies that food service is the caterer's job. I sat in the meeting and realized that I have more expereince than all the keys who attended combined. In all my years as a craft service person, and I did a lot of big shows - I never cooked, never. People still call me for jobs even though I haven't worked since "The Day After Tomorrow", four years ago. You don't have to cook to impress people. So stop it.


That leads us onto the topic of equipment. I started on the back of a prop truck with coolers, a coffee machine, and trash cans. As that's what craft service was. We are now seeing more and more elaborate rigs that many of you simply can't drive. There also have recently arisen some issues with the health departments, particularly in Albuquerque. I am not sure after all these years why this has become a hot topic now, nevertheless it is, all of our duty to respect local regulations and conform with them. The good news is that they have set up systems that make it simple, user friendly, and inexpensive. They all respect each others' jurisdiction so we don't have to go through a multiple qualifying process. Here is my understanding: On the city of Albuquerque's website (www.cabq.gov) there is an application for a temporary food vendors permit. You're not permanent so this is the option for you - fill it out, fax it in along with your business registration (I'm assuming you are all registered businesses with a tax id#) and the $15 fee which production will reimburse you for. This gives you a 2 week permit. if you need another permit, they will issue it to you. It's a really painless process and the lady whom I met from the health department was wonderful. The argument that we have always made is that we only serve individually wrapped, prepared snacks, but as you can tell from the previous paragraph some of you are cooking, therefor we fall into this category. So suck it up, fill out the form, pay the $15 and be legal. There is another, cheaper way to do it, which is to have your vehicles permanently permitted and that costs $50. They have a few more requirements, but none of them are particulary onerous. However, it opens that can of worms of having a permanent commissary kitchen which is pretty expensive so I think there is a balance there. I plan to talk to those of you who own equipment to rent and pass on the words of wisdom from the health department. As I stated before you are not cook/drivers and I really think we need to have another discussion if you all go out and qualify as kitchens before we have a much more painful discussion with the Teamsters about violating their jurisdiction. Let's pick up these temp permits people.

Sister Brooke Fair brought up a great point and spoke eloquently to the issue that no other department acts like craft service when it comes to interpersonal relationships. Grips don't call me and speak poorly of their peers and collegues - many craft service peoplpe do. juicers don't call each other and complain about other juicers - but craft service people do. There is a level of professionalism that is lacking, and Sister Fair you are so right, we need to come together. We need to fix this; I am looking for a solution. In the meantime let's declare a moratorium on the whinning and try to move together as the proud Union film technicians that we are.

Thanks again for your valuable time, you are some of the best people I have been fortunate to associate with.