We have heard from Local 839 members that they are finding it difficult to complete the current California Unemployment Insurance Online Application because the job classification descriptions are confusing and often irrelevant. To fix this problem, over the past eight months the California IATSE Council (CIC) and Local 839 have been working on your behalf with the Unemployment Insurance Department of the California Employment Development Department (EDD). This is the agency that administers California’s unemployment insurance program. They are required to use the federal government job classification descriptions, so we had to work with that reality to get the best solution possible.
We are glad to tell you that we have successfully negotiated some significant changes in Local 839’s job classifications that work to your benefit including three new classifications—animation artist, animation technician and animation writer.
CIC has also created a step-by-step presentation of how Local 839 members can apply online for CA UI. Please note there is a job classification slide which will help you determine which classification applies to you.