Film Industry’s Invisible Workforce Votes for Dignity, Respect

Parking Production Assistants (PPAs) in New York City voted unanimously to join CWA Local 1101 on Monday.
 
The nearly 600 PPAs are employed by ABC, CBS, NBC TV, NBC Cable, HBO, and SONY.  They secure parking in the New York City area for film and television productions, usually arriving 12 to 24 hours prior to production and working through the night in their personal vehicles to ensure that parking spaces are secured for production vehicles and equipment. The work requires PPAs to spend long hours alone, overnight, usually without access to a bathroom, and risk violent altercations with drivers seeking parking. Prior to the vote, they were the only group of workers in the multi-billion dollar film and television industry who were not union members.
 
"This vote was about dignity, about humanity," said Lanere Rollins, a PPA who spoke last month at the National Action Network’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day celebration about the organizing efforts. "Film and TV productions couldn't happen without us, but PPAs have been on the bottom rung of the entertainment industry for a long time. Not one PPA in the city voted 'no' for the union, because we're stepping up to demand the respect and fair treatment that we deserve."

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Parking Production Assistants (PPAs) in New York City voted unanimously to join CWA Local 1101.