Tom Brandau for Business Rep

"An argument has been made that Jim Osburn should be re-elected as BA because he'll stand up to Tom Short and the International. Jim has in the past, and he'll continue to, but unfortunately it will continue to be unproductive.

The alternative strategy is thought to be of the Bruce Doering school of brown-nosing Short and hoping he throws your local some bones.

We need something else.

The IA is run from the top down. We, the rank and file, serve Tom Short, not the other way around. Anyone who's been to one of the conventions can see how effectively dissent is chilled. The International owns our contract but seems more interested in keeping up its good business relationship with the producers then with really serving our needs. The last contract, full of giveaways, was settled 8 months before it was to expire. It certainly does not feel like they worked very hard for us.

So Jim Osburn stands, practically alone, against the IA. His stand against Short may seem heroic, but it's a quixotic suicide mission.

In order for the Hollywood locals to stand up to the IA International's neglect we have to stand together. We need a caucus of the Hollywood locals demanding a real say in our contracts. We can't do this with Jim. No one wants to stand with him. His abrasiveness and street-fighting tactics have alienated most of the rest of labor Hollywood, and often Local 695 has gotten the short end of the stick BECAUSE so many people hate him.

The old school mentality does not work anymore. We need someone new, someone who can forge a bond with the other Hollywood locals and put up an effective answer to the IA's neglect.

That man is Thomas Brandau."

Andy Rovins

http://www.cinematicks.com