By Michael Messina

Just about everyone loves movies; from explosive action flicks to intellectual mind benders to revealing documentaries. We just spent a whole week celebrating IATSE members — the working hands behind these great films — and as a quick follow up we want to show you how you can know for sure if an IATSE member has been involved in the film you just watched.

Our goal at Labor 411 is to identify as many union-made products and services for you, the consumer. I rarely find any product whatsoever with a literal union label or stamp on it these days and a big part of why we exist as a service is because of this very inconvenience.

Not so with IATSE.

Look for the union’s brand at the end of the credits. If you’re at the theater, settle in a little longer when the closing credits start scrolling up the screen. Enjoy the theatrical score for a little while and as the music comes to its final notes, the pentagonal IATSE logo will most likely be one of the last things you see.

We’ve all seen it before. When I first became involved in the world of unions I naturally came across the IATSE branding more than a few times, and one day after waiting for a post-credits extra scene at some film or another, there it was! The logo was already a part of my psyche after years and years of watching movies and I didn’t even realize it. It was a gem of a discovery for me.

So, go to the movies! And look for the union label.