Thom Davis: Last News

Yvonne Wheeler, a veteran labor leader and civil rights activist, has been elected president of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO – the first Black woman to hold the post. She succeeds Ron Herrera, who resigned last month after being caught up in the leaked tape scandal that roiled City Hall. IATSE 2nd Vice President Thom Davis had been serving as interim president. The Federation represents 300 affiliated labor organizations representing more than 800,000 members.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterFive months ago, the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees was bitterly divided over a new contract, which was ratified by a historically narrow margin.Half of the membership defied their leaders and voted “no,” as opponents blamed International President Matthew Loeb for settling for too little and for not capitalizing on the threat of an industrywide strike.But while some of that anger remains, there is little evidence that the issue has carried over into local leadership elections this spring. Even where local unions have thrown out their leaders, turnout has been low, and the issues seem to turn more on personalities than on the contract.One of the hotbeds of resistance to the deal was IATSE Local 80, the union that represents 3,800 grips, crafts service workers and set medics.

Dejon Ellis Jr. has been elected interim business manager of IATSE Grips Local 80 by the slim margin of only 10 votes. Ellis, who was an assistant business agent at the local, defeated Joel Galarza, the local’s vice president, by a vote of 178 to 168 during a virtual membership meeting on Sunday.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterDejon Ellis, Jr., won a close vote on Sunday to take over as interim leader of IATSE Local 80, in an election marked by lingering hard feelings over last year’s contract negotiations.Local 80 represents about 3,800 grips, as well as craft service workers and set medics. In November, the local voted resoundingly against the new IATSE contract, which covers 13 locals on the West Coast, and which was narrowly ratified.

EXCLUSIVE: A sensational wrongful-termination lawsuit filed last year by Michael Mendez against IATSE Grips Local 80 has been settled. Mendez, the local’s former assistant business representative, claimed he was fired last February in retaliation for complaining about “lewd sexual misconduct” and “sexual harassment” that he allegedly witnessed at the local’s offices in Burbank.

By David Robb