April 2009
Dear Brothers & Sisters,

One of the great benefits of belonging to a labor organization can be the opportunities given to you to help advance your career. Local 728 has a long history of providing such opportunities to our members and currently has one of the most comprehensive training programs in the industry.

In order to fully understand the opportunities that are available to you, I need to start with Contract Services. The Contract Services Training Trust Fund (CSATTF) funds two separate Training Programs that are funded through payroll contributions. These are the Safety Pass Program and the Skills Training Program.

The Safety Pass Program provides the required safety training that you attended in order to work under contract with the AMPTP. These classes do not provide any training outside of safety and the Local has no involvement with this program. Conversely, the Skills Training rogram is administered by the Local and provides only classes which are relevant to the skills required by our craft and will make you a better technician on set. While safety in the workplace is always a concern, the Skills Training classes are not safety classes and focus on the skills that will make you a more valuable member of the crew.

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Application Form

Class Schedule

Class List

The Skills Training Program classes constitute the bulk of our scheduled events. This year we were awarded 42 classes ranging from Electricity 101 through Vectorworks IV. Other classes include Overhead Rigging, HMI Lighting, LED Technician, Underwater Lighting, and several Lighting Console/Media Server classes. These classes are free to members, though some classes may require a deposit. You are required to be in Good Standing with the Local and on the Industry Experience Roster. When you sign up, I will check your I-9 status with Contract Services. If your I-9 has expired, I will notarize an updated I-9 for you free of charge. If you have any questions, please give me a call.

When there is a topic that we want to cover that is not funded by CSATTF, the Local can often step in to sponsor it. Some examples of this are our Best Boy Seminar; Microsoft Excel; Lighting Design with Jim Moody; Body Mechanics/Injury Prevention; Lighting Previsualization; Color Measurement with Joe Tawil; Financial & Estate Planning; Insurance for Home, Work, & Play; and Understanding Supplemental Health Insurance.

All of our classes and seminars are specifically designed to give you the information you need in a concise manner that is specifically tailored to how we work on set. Our instructors are all experts in their field who have real world experience at the craft they are teaching. We also keep our classes small so that we have a high instructor/student ratio. This also allows us to be flexible with our schedule. We can schedule several of our classes at the request of a crew or several members. We understand the nature of living a freelance lifestyle and we do not want to waste your time.

Your opinion matters. At the conclusion of each event, members are given a survey to fill out. The surveys are compiled and sent to the members of the Training Committee. Many of of our members' comments have been integrated into our program. One example of this is our recent shift towards using recycled paper and minimizing our handouts to reduce the amount of paper we use.

It has always been my belief that we are here to serve you. Please take advantage of all that the Local has to offer, not only with training but with also the opportunities that are afforded to you and your family such as our Scholarship Program and Picnic.

For more information, please contact me at the Training Office (818-843-0012) or via email at amrowe@iatse728.org.

Fraternally,
Alan M. Rowe

2520 W. Olive Ave Suite 330 • Burbank, CA 91505
818/843-0012 (Training Office) • 818/891-0728 (Local Office