AFI center staff join IATSE

Two dozen employees join union

By DAVE MCNARY

After calling for a boycott of all AFI events, the Intl. Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees has unionized more than two dozen employees at AFI's Silver Theater and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Md.

IATSE, representing the concession workers, announced the agreement Wednesday that provides "significant wage, benefit and condition improvements."

The below-the-line union did not provide details about the pact.

IATSE went public with the dispute Saturday at the start of the AFI Fest in Los Angeles as union prexy Matthew Loeb accused AFI of using scare tactics to pressure the Maryland workers from backing the unionization effort. The AFI Fest concludes Saturday.