We know these actors and writers by top member names or their productions, in a way we don’t know the people involved in recent major conflicts, Amazon warehouses and Starbucks cafes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Just Tuesday (July 25), UPS reached a tentative agreement with the Teamsters<\/a>, less than a week before their Aug. 1 deadline. Negotiations in June gained the delivery corporation’s 340,000 drivers an initial win, air-conditioning will be installed in some service vehicles bought after this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Imagine: Until 2023, no air-conditioning in those brown trucks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The National Education Association, the nation’s largest union at 3 million members, includes the Arkansas Education Association and the latter’s first higher-education local, the 965<\/a> of the University of Arkansas. Thousands of teachers thus belong to AEA, which is not necessarily obvious to students or their communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I joined my first union, this one, as soon as I learned of it in 2017. As a summer worker, working assembly lines while in college, I was ineligible for membership in the unions of Rheem and Whirlpool in Fort Smith. Otherwise none of the companies I worked for in the decades since had unions. (I salute the people trying to start unions where none existed.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Fifty-60 years ago Maxine Chapman was an AEA official out of Fort Smith. A family friend, the third-grade teacher often came to our house for dinner when I was a child. I recall Maxine talking of trips to Little Rock for AEA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Longtime AEA President Sid Johnson taught me seventh-grade general science. I knew nothing of Mr. Johnson’s activism until a couple of years ago, after Sid and I “reunited” via Facebook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unions in Arkansas feel remote, until I consider my own connections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That brings me to Charlie Knight, seemingly my dad’s antagonist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n My father managed the laundry-dry cleaners owned by his brother until the business failed in the late 1960s and my dad coursed through a series of desk jobs (his favorite was H&R Block tax preparer) until his death in 1985.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The one late supervisory job was stage manager of what then was the Fort Smith Municipal Auditorium<\/a> several nights a month. If it wasn’t a school night (I was in junior high at the time), sometimes I got to go with Dad. So I’d see Mr. Knight, white-haired, a little portly and a bit rough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For a time, Dad’s position moved to a day-shift stint as interim manager of the overall Fort Smith Convention Center<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stagecraft was my dad’s lifelong hobby. After military service he designed or crewed on sets and lights for Fort Smith Little Theatre<\/a>. In the early 1970s, thus the avocation became a paying gig.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These jobs included hiring crew for shows and events. He did that through the Fort Smith stagehands local, negotiating with its leader, Charlie. As a young teen I heard one side of these dozens of evening phone calls Dad had with Charlie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The union likely was the IATSE<\/a>, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada. (Here in 2023, the IATSE has announced support of WGA and SAG-AFTRA.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The word heard most was “minimums.” Charlie would demand more crew being hired, more hours credited for those accepted and higher hourly wages. Dad of course had been handed budgets from on high. These men sounded like enemies, with the raised voices I overheard. As Dad in all parts of life avoided conflict, this must’ve been agonizing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In the pews at my Dad’s funeral a decade later in 1985 was to Mom’s and my surprise Charlie Knight. Afterward he shook our hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The men must’ve shared dozens of conversations backstage. Once contracts were settled, they were friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Copyright 2023 Ben S. Pollock<\/strong><\/small><\/p>\n\n\n\n My column first appeared in the July 2023<\/a> newsletter of UA-Fayetteville Education Association \/ Local 965<\/a>, which I’m serving as vice president.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Journalism First note<\/strong>: Obviously I’m relying on memory here, but the facts mentioned are confirmed. Except two. Through web searches I’ve found nothing about a stagehands local in Fort Smith. The IATSE currently has one local in the state, in Little Rock. Second, no online record I’ve found lists a Charlie or Charley or Charles Knight. I dug through boxes this week to find my dad’s funeral register, where I recognized every signature and none was his. Sticking with Charlie Knight.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It’s Science: A Rising Tide Would Lift All Boats An Editor’s Note This could be our year. The next months could see unions that support public educators and support staff, indeed the unions for all varieties of workers, return to proportionate prominence. This is because of the Hollywood strikes. All unions due to the walkout […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-life-lessons"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Array-of-logos-of-WGA-SAG-AFTRA-and-Local-965.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":8152,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2025\/09\/eggshells\/","url_meta":{"origin":7610,"position":0},"title":"Eggshells","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"September 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"An Editor's Note I don't know when I began being paranoid about job security. I'd like to think it was working for newspaper editor John R. Starr from 1985 to his retirement in 1992, because if you just read his caustic columns, who could blame me. It's likely to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Erika Kirk approaches the lectern at Charlie Kirk's memorial Sept. 21, 2025, in Glendale, Arizona. White House photo","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Erika-Kirk-at-Charlie-Kirk-Memorial-092125-whitehouse.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Erika-Kirk-at-Charlie-Kirk-Memorial-092125-whitehouse.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Erika-Kirk-at-Charlie-Kirk-Memorial-092125-whitehouse.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Erika-Kirk-at-Charlie-Kirk-Memorial-092125-whitehouse.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Erika-Kirk-at-Charlie-Kirk-Memorial-092125-whitehouse.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Erika-Kirk-at-Charlie-Kirk-Memorial-092125-whitehouse.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8126,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2025\/08\/deconstruction-era\/","url_meta":{"origin":7610,"position":1},"title":"The Deconstruction Era","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"August 26, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"An Editor's Note It's incredible that no wag by now has given our era a name that sticks, goes viral. The announcements and actions coming out of Washington this year \u2014 with no sign of slowing \u2014 qualify for uniqueness. We came close in 2017-2021 to a singular name, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"President-elect Donald Trump takes the oath of office on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025. He did not touch the Bibles held for him by his wife.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Donald_Trump_takes_the_oath_of_office_2025-16x9-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Donald_Trump_takes_the_oath_of_office_2025-16x9-1.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Donald_Trump_takes_the_oath_of_office_2025-16x9-1.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Donald_Trump_takes_the_oath_of_office_2025-16x9-1.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Donald_Trump_takes_the_oath_of_office_2025-16x9-1.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Donald_Trump_takes_the_oath_of_office_2025-16x9-1.jpeg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8118,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2025\/07\/public-radio-daze\/","url_meta":{"origin":7610,"position":2},"title":"Public Radio Daze","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"July 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"An Editor's Note President Trump soon will sign a huge cut to federal public broadcast funding, which got congressional approval July 18, as The Associated Press reported, \"Congress Approves Trump\u2019s $9 Billion Cut to Public Broadcasting and Foreign Aid.\" Of that, about $1.1 billion was earmarked for the Corporation for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News, Spin"","block_context":{"text":"News, Spin","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/news-spin\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"The UND Science Building was razed in 1999.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/UND-Grand-Forks-old-Science-Hall-16x9-ebay-1908.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/UND-Grand-Forks-old-Science-Hall-16x9-ebay-1908.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/UND-Grand-Forks-old-Science-Hall-16x9-ebay-1908.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/UND-Grand-Forks-old-Science-Hall-16x9-ebay-1908.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/UND-Grand-Forks-old-Science-Hall-16x9-ebay-1908.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/UND-Grand-Forks-old-Science-Hall-16x9-ebay-1908.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2587,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2010\/12\/inaccessible-cable-access\/","url_meta":{"origin":7610,"position":3},"title":"Inaccessible Cable Access","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"December 30, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Earlier this month the cable television provider Cox Communications changed the access to the community and government access channels here in Northwest Arkansas. They sent a letter to customers (click for a PDF), and press releases to the news outlets. They'd say changed the location, but what they did is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Body, Home, Street"","block_context":{"text":"Body, Home, Street","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/body-home-street\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":404,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2008\/02\/book-em-benno\/","url_meta":{"origin":7610,"position":4},"title":"Book ’em, Benno","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"February 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"\"Book 'em, Danno\" is a stick-in-your-brain phrase I've no memory for this. A book is mentioned and I'll remember if I've read it, and how long ago, and whether it was paper or audio, as I also \"read\" about 1 1\/2 books a month on CD while commuting. (There's no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Mr. Boo Klist"","block_context":{"text":"Mr. Boo Klist","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/mr-boo-klist\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5214,"url":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/2015\/09\/throwing-drones-for-a-loop\/","url_meta":{"origin":7610,"position":5},"title":"Throwing Drones for a Loop","author":"Ben S. Pollock","date":"September 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Shy of a Load The City Wire in \"Citing Privacy and Protection, UA-Fayetteville Prohibits Drone Use over Campus\" joins other news media and social media in ricocheting the University of Arkansas' news release that \"unmanned aircraft systems\" such as drones as of now may not be flown over campus without\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Shy of a Load"","block_context":{"text":"Shy of a Load","link":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/category\/items\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Cover of The Great International Paper Airplane Book, 1971","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/Great-International-Paper-Airplane-Book-727x1000-218x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7610"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7681,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7610\/revisions\/7681"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"ArcBest](\"https:\/\/benpollock.com\/brick\/wp-content\/uploads\/ArcBest-Performing-Arts-Center-16x9-1500x844-2.jpeg\")