Welcome to the Local 764 Website

The History of Local 764
The Theatrical Wardrobe Union (TWU) Local 764 has represented wardrobe personnel in the New York area since it was founded in 1919 and chartered under the American Federation of Labor as Theatrical Wardrobe Attendants Union # 16770. On August 1, 1942, the Union was granted a charter by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States and Canada (I.A.T.S.E.) and became Local #764 of the International. In October 1982 a revised charter was issued in the name of Theatrical Wardrobe Union. In 1990, with the merger of NABET Local 15 and the I.A.T.S.E., Local 764 became the only local representing wardrobe workers in the New York City area.
The Theatrical Wardrobe Union (TWU) Local 764 has represented wardrobe personnel in the New York area since it was founded in 1919 and chartered under the American Federation of Labor as Theatrical Wardrobe Attendants Union # 16770. On August 1, 1942, the Union was granted a charter by the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Machine Operators of the United States and Canada (I.A.T.S.E.) and became Local #764 of the International. In October 1982 a revised charter was issued in the name of Theatrical Wardrobe Union. In 1990, with the merger of NABET Local 15 and the I.A.T.S.E., Local 764 became the only local representing wardrobe workers in the New York City area.

Jurisdiction
Local 764 is unique in that it has contracts in all areas of the entertainment industry. Its members work as Wardrobe Supervisors, (or Costumers) and Assistants on feature films, pilots, soap operas, commercials and a variety of television programs. They are Wardrobe Supervisors, Assistants, and Dressers at venues including Broadway theatres, the Metropolitan Opera, Lincoln Center Theatres, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Madison Square Garden, Nassau Coliseum, and Radio City Music Hall.
The physical jurisdiction is defined as within a 50 mile radius of Columbus Circle for film and New York City, Long Island and Westchester County for theatre.

What a union can do for you
A Union is a group of workers who may come together to promote their common interests. The employees' role in a unionized workplace is unique.  With a union, those who work for a particular employer are no longer just a group of individuals; they are a collective unit, as well.  The Union has the right-and legal duty-to speak with one voice on behalf of all the employees in what is called the "Collective Bargaining Unit", thus the employer loses the advantage of dealing with each employee individually.  In a non-union setting, workers count on only their own strength; as a union member, workers still have their own strength, PLUS the strength of the group. Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes put it this way in a 1937 Supreme Court Decision:
Long ago we stated the reason for labor organizations. We said they were organized out of the necessitates of the situation; that a single employee was helpless in dealing with the employer...that the union was essential to give laborers the opportunity to deal on an equal basis with their employers.
His words ring just as loud today.
Deregulation, overzealous spending sprees on credit, mortgages not worth anything close to the real value of the house, and plain old apathy over the past two decades has created this credit and housing market bubble and their subsequent collapse.  Indeed, now more than ever, it is important for workers everywhere to unionize, to speak with one voice and to look out for each other in what should be a tough year economically for many, many of our members.