IDA Voluntarily Recognizes NCO Employees Union, Laid the Ground for Contract Negotiations

The International Documentary Association officially granted voluntary recognition to the union of ordinary workers, thereby eliminating the conflict between workers and management.

For weeks, the IDA board has been supporting workers’ union efforts, which call themselves Documentary Workers United, but this week the local organization did not sign an official document recognizing DWU, affiliated with 9003 US Communications Workers. from official action. Workers below the senior manager level.

“A team of IDA staff has successfully established an association whose history is quickly recognized,” IDA Executive Director Rick Perez said in a statement. Said. “IDA believes this is a positive step that will help set a new direction for the organization and its staff.”

DWU issued a separate press release, calling the union’s recognition a “victory”.

“This is a historic day for IDA employees who have worked tirelessly to bring our organization together,” said Hansen Bursic, member of the DWU organizing committee. “We are pleased to work towards the goals set out in our mission statement and to fight for a contract that will benefit staff.

Employees who complained about management’s delaying tactics reported to the National Labor Relations Council last month their intention to go to the polls to vote union. Signing a voluntary approval letter eliminates the need for this vote, and the next step for management and DWU will be to begin contract negotiations.

“IDA is committed to working with the union on next steps,” Pérez said in a statement that included the collective bargaining process, greater articulation of our roles and responsibilities, and processes that will strengthen IDA. just society. and more inclusive document Important obligations of the organization in this area.”

DWU has identified potential issues in the context of contract negotiations.

“Some of the big items on the agenda include job protections for IDA staff,” the DWU said, “approving the current staff handbook and voting staff when recruiting.”

Union action is taking place for IDA, a 40-year-old organization that provides grants to nonfiction filmmakers and lawyers on behalf of an independent documentary community. In a press release last month, the newly elected Executive Committee of the IDA Board of Directors described IDA as “the fight against the existential crisis.” “Over the past year, we have experienced internal conflicts and multiple transitions at the staff, management and board levels, including unfortunately numerous resignations.”

According to staff data, nearly half of the staff left the organization after December 2021, with some showing dissatisfaction with the leadership of Pérez, who took over the organization last May. Holding a high position in the IDA, Pérez became the group’s first BIPOC and openly gay leader.

Four senior officials resigned in early January to protest what they termed “workers’ behaviour”, after suing Peres in council. The complaint also criticized the council’s actions, which four employees felt went against IDA’s values ​​and promoted greater diversity, equality and inclusion in the documentary space. In late January, the IDA board issued a statement saying that the independent investigator it hired to investigate the allegations found nothing to support the claim.

On Saturday, a group of documentarians and representatives of arts organizations sent a Letter to the IDA Board expressing their concern over Pérez’s insult. The letter partially states: “When power shifts, the change can take the form of interpersonal conflict. In the context of racial discrimination and the criminalization of BIPOC men, it is alarming to see Rick Pérez openly considered “guilty until proven innocent” even though an independent investigation acquitted him of all charges. Many who have known Rick Perez over the years as friends, colleagues, or filmmakers… see him as a thoughtful, generous, and impeccable leader. After extensively researching the values ​​of fairness, inclusion, and excellence, the IDA Board hired him and accepted his vision for IDA’s future.

The letter commended IDA’s recent election to full BIPOC Executive Board membership and commended the efforts of the staff union.

“This discussion shows that processes at IDA need to change in an organization that has been in operation for four decades. “We are not aware of the internal affairs of the IDA, but there seem to have been obvious mistakes,” the letter states. “We support workers and workers in general and strongly support the IDA Union. We support the election by the Board of a new Executive Committee composed of all BIPOC leaders. We hope these steps will help move IDA in a positive direction and that Rick Perez and IDA staff will work together to strengthen the organization.”

The more than 50 signatories of the letter include filmmakers Ilse Fernandez, Rodrigo Reyes, Dawn Valades and Erin Plus-Campoamor; producer Betsy Tsai; producer and former IDA employee Claire Aguilar; And Jim Lebrecht, Oscar-nominated director creep camp.

Lebrecht was among a select number of field leaders who attended a virtual meeting called by the IDA last month to discuss their plans going forward amid staff unrest. Those who signed Saturday’s letter called for a broader discussion on where the IDA is headed.

“We hope that IDA can recover more strongly than before. We understand that, despite the articles on social media and the press, we only have part of this larger story.” It organizes a town hall open to all IDA members and stakeholders to allow for deeper and more transparent discussion about the present and future of .

Documentary Workers United includes approximately 11 IDA staff, including DWU Organizing Committee members Bedatri D. Choudhury and Eddie Hustleby. They were greeted with official recognition of their union by the IDA.

“It is not a loss for us that this victory comes at a pivotal moment in the workers’ movement across the country,” said Choudhur. “We express our solidarity with our colleagues at the Anthology Film Workers Union and celebrate the founding of the Amazon Workers Union last week.”

“Support from members of our community, our combined partners at other media outlets, and industry leaders has helped us move forward,” Hastleb said. “We look forward to continuing the public’s support as we take this next step in a fair contract negotiation as resilient as ever.”

On March 24, IDA announced the hiring of two senior executives and senior advisors, which it calls a “big step forward.” Keisha Knight joined as director of the IDA Funds and Enterprise program, while Ebony Soun was hired as director of artist programs; Louise Rosen joined the consultant role. “Society and a fairer IDA,” said newly elected board co-chairs Chris Perez (not related to Rick Perez) and Grace Lee, in a statement accompanying the announcement.