Iatse

Neil Young called off the concert scheduled for Thursday night at the Forum in Inglewood rather than ask his fans to cross a picket line that the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees said it would set up at the arena, which has a long history of labor disputes with the union. Young and his wife, Pegi, are honorary lifetime members of IATSE. The show will be rescheduled for next year, according to his publicist. Those holding tickets to the Forum show may get refunds at the point of purchase.

Cannon Group Inc. and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) have reached a first-ever collective bargaining agreement covering all Cannon movies with a budget of more than $6 million to be made in 1987 and 1988. The agreement, jointly announced by Cannon and the union, brought to an end a brief strike by IATSE against the company last week.

Hollywood's location managers have staked out a new three-year contract. Teamsters Local 399 on Thursday reached a tentative agreement for about 600 location managers in the Los Angeles area   with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, said a person close to the negotiations who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter. Patterned after similar contracts negotiated by studio drivers, camera operators, grips and other technical crews and crafts workers, the new deal provides a 2% annual wage increase and additional funding for the union's health plan.

Editor's note: The March 18 cover story, "Paramount's Big Spin," said that, according to published reports, a union pension fund threatened to sue Paramount on the ground that producer Frank Mancuso Jr. had set up a sham corporation designed to avoid labor contracts. Mancuso, according to the article, said the union is trying to renege on its agreement to let independent companies film for the studios under certain conditions. The response below is from a representative of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes and Moving Picture Machine Operators.

Remember when Norma Rae was screaming for justice for her co-workers? Sally Field was Norma Rae and won an Oscar playing the poor Southern union organizer. But did Field allow her union membership to expire? She's currently starring opposite Michael Caine in Cannon Films' "Surrender," a contemporary comedy that's using a non-union crew. A rep for Field doesn't think that's such a big deal. ("Does Cannon even make union pictures?" she quipped.

The latest effort by Hollywood trade unions to gain a stronger foothold in the reality-TV business erupted in protest Monday when more than 100 crew members and labor officials picketed the Calabasas ranch where the show "The Biggest Loser" is filmed. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which is waging a strike against the popular series, called the rally to protest the decision by its producers to bring in replacement workers to resume production on the NBC show.

Two of Hollywood's largest unions said they were investigating working conditions on the production of Lindsay Lohan's TV movie "Liz & Dick. " "We have had union representatives on the set since last Friday and will continue to monitor the hours and working conditions there," said Mike Miller, motion picture and television director for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents technical workers on films and TV...

Shooting here and elsewhere in Canada is nothing less than a survival tactic for some Hollywood TV series producers. Consider this scene on the set of the CBS late-night series "Adderly," about a government operative whose injured hand gets him demoted to the do-nothing Miscellaneous Affairs department. The setting is not some glamour-filled studio, but a dingy, vacant warehouse. The crew is minuscule by Hollywood standards and extremely young.

Thomas C. Short said he would step down as president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which represents film and TV show crew members. He has been president of the 110,000-member union since 1994. Short said he was leaving because he had accomplished his goal of building the union and wanted to enjoy other pursuits. Mat Loeb, an international vice president, will serve the remaining year of Short's four-year term.