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https://www.iatse28.org/?zone=/unionactive/view_page.cfm&page=The20History20of20IATSE20Local2028
The 1980s saw a surge in the number of film and video productions passing through the region. Union stagehands were working on some of the union shots, but more often productions were non-union, often with working conditions on the sets that were unsafe. Wage and hour laws were ignored, and worker dissatisfaction mounted. The production companies on these non-union shoots were most often offshoots of major studios that were under IATSE contracts in Los Angeles. In early 1992 International Representative Stephen R. Flint obtained letters from Local 15 in Seattle, Washington, Local 28 in Portland, Local 93 in Spokane, Washington, and Local 675 in Eugene, Oregon, giving up their film jurisdictions. In 1992, with the leadership of Local 28 Business Agent John DiSciullo and IATSE Representative Sandra England, International President Alfred W. DiTolla granted a charter on April 1 to form Local 488, Studio Mechanics of the Pacific Northwest.
1989 brought two mergers of note for Local 28. Membership in Sister Local 159, Motion Picture Machine Operators, dropped from 57 members in 1970 to only remained a handful of active members among the total membership of 17 in 1989. The advent of automated projector systems, and anti-unionism among movie theater owners, had cut so strongly into the ranks of Local 159 that, at the urging of the International, they were merged into Local 28. Now, with the stagehands, wardrobe workers and motion picture machine operators, we we became a truly all-purpose mixed local. Another notable merger happened in 1989: after years of competition, the two struggling local ballet companies merged. Ballet Oregon and Pacific Ballet Theatre joined forces to form Oregon Ballet Theatre, providing the final cornerstone to the performing arts community in Portland.
In the 1990s, the intense popularity of the Portland Trail Blazers, coupled with the age and small size of the now old Memorial Coliseum, fostered a need for a new arena to house the team. Plans were drawn up in a partnership formed between the Blazers organization and the city of Portland resulting in the construction of a new arena adjacent to the Coliseum: the Rose Garden Arena. As part of the deal, the Blazers took over the operations of the Coliseum in July 1993. By July 1994, Local 28 had successfully negotiated a contract with the Oregon Arena Corporation to provide all stagehands in both the Coliseum and the Rose Garden.
Coming soonโฆ the next chapter of our history: 1995 to 2012 and beyond.