March 5th, 2010 The Committee
I. FEATURED COMMENT FROM CANADIAN LOCAL BOARD MEMBER
II. FEATURED COMMENT: HIGHER STANDARDS
III. FEATURED COMMENT: ANOWAC
IV. ASMAC LUNCHEON FEATURING BRUCE MILLER
V. COMMENTS
VI. EVENTS
===========================
I. FEATURED COMMENT FROM CANADIAN LOCAL BOARD MEMBER
Greetings from your North-Eastern Neighbours,
I have been following the various debates in the Committee newsletter for several
years. Some of it I have agreed with, some of it I have not. I may not agree with
all of the politics, and there were admittedly times when I found the repeated
bashing of a given individual or group to be unprofessional and devoid of any
purpose from my perspective, but I believe wholeheartedly in freedom of expression.
To date, I have never responded to any of your articles or the comments of your
readership, as I am clearly not a member of Local 47 or the RMA, but after the last
newsletter I felt it was time to chime in and “express” a bit myself (with apologies
for the length of my dissertation).
First, regarding the recent Pete Anthony saga and his purported non-union work in
the UK: just because it’s not happening here, doesn’t necessarily make it a “non-union”
session, as we aren’t the only professional musicians’ union in the world. In the EU
they have the Musicians’ Union (http://www.musiciansunion.org.uk/) which purportedly
represents over 30,000 musicians. Has anybody checked to see if the musicians on the
fabled Nanny McPhee session were members of that organisation (or any other union,
for that matter)? If they were, how do THEY feel about their work going to somebody
from outside of their union? Was/is there an agreement in place between the MU and
the AFM? Is one needed?
Second, to the comment on “Hobbyist Locals” from one of your readers: AFM Local
815, of which I am a member, is a small Local, representing the Canadian province
of New Brunswick. On behalf of our membership, I say, “we’re insulted!” We are
not a “Hobbyist Local,” least of all because of our relative size. Yes, we have a
relatively small membership (which generally has hovered between 200 and 250
musicians for the past couple of years), but most of our members are either symphonic
musicians (many performing with the union orchestra, “Symphony New Brunswick,”
for example), recording musicians (performing extensively with the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation or for other TV/Radio/Film scoring, or just recording
independently), touring musicians, and/or freelancers. We don’t attract a lot of
“hobbyists” per se; there are thousands of casual players in our jurisdiction, to be sure,
but precious few would be willing to pay annual dues or give up any portion of their
income as work dues just to claim to be members of our illustrious organisation. They
come to us when they’re ready to get serious. Hence, we represent the pros that we have.
That’s our job!
That is not to say that all of our members are full-time musicians; many do maintain
day-jobs or teach in order to survive, if only because there isn’t always enough
performance/recording work to go around, as I am sure can be said for thousands
of members in larger Locals (and I believe a lot more RMALAers are going to have to
get used to doing the same if they continue business as usual). Given the golden
opportunity to live off of lucrative film scoring sessions and residuals, I am sure
most of our members would abandon their day-jobs in a heartbeat. Lack of work
doesn’t make them any less professional in their attitudes, behaviours, or abilities;
they declare income, they pay taxes and work dues, and they generally present
themselves with a respectful demeanour and even a degree of humility. What’s more,
the vast majority of our members are incredibly capable - I dare say, comparable to
the calibre of many of the RMA elite of LA, NY, and Nashville - and, despite the
ramblings of a few malcontents in the RMA, more than deserving of the coveted
recording work that has been rapidly fleeing RMA centers of operation. In fact,
many stay here (rather than move to a larger Local) in an effort to raise the standards
for local music and hopefully improve the local music industry for future generations.
The truth of the matter is that just because your Local is larger does not mean the
musicians are better or more professional, any more than being rich makes anyone
better than those who are poor; in a lot of cases, it just means they’re more fortunate.
I’m not saying LA/NY/Nashville didn’t work hard to build their music industries - clearly
they worked very hard indeed - just that they have relied on good fortune easily as
much as talent for a long time, and fortunes change. They now face being deposed by
other parts of the world that have worked even harder. That’s LIFE. The sooner the
larger Locals and the RMA get it through their heads that they’re working in a GLOBAL
marketplace - yes, that includes all the other countries, even the ones where the
AFM and RMA have never been heard of - the more likely they’ll be able to avoid bankrupcy.
Elitism is not a salable commodity, so it’s time to stop treating it as a valuable export.
The trophy bucks have almost all fled for greener pastures and no-hunting zones, so
if you want to eat, you’re going to have to learn to hunt smaller game like the rest of us.
Don’t expect us to make it easier for you out of pity; we grieve for your loss, but we
plan to keep eating, too! In the mean time, as long as you insist on driving work away
from LA/NY/Nashville by asking for more money than your product is worth in the Global
economy, we’ll gladly take it off your hands; any film scoring that can be legally recorded
(under AFM Contracts and Agreements) here in Eastern Canada will be more than welcome.
We’ll happily set up a “larger-game” preserve to help keep the work in the AFM (as long
as it can be done without violating existing contracts, agreements, or bylaws)! I believe
we can do the job quite well; you’ll be amazed to discover that musical instruments can
sound as beautiful without any of the players raising their noses or chins in the air.
Regardless of whatever else the future may hold, you can rest assured that we “Hobbyist
Locals” will continue to hold our ground against ANYBODY who tries to tell us that we
aren’t entitled to adequate representation or aren’t allowed to make our living within the
bounds of the bylaws of the AFM.
With that, I’ll let you all go. Perhaps I’ll get a chance to meet some of you if I’m fortunate
enough to represent our Local in Las Vegas this year. Remember, regardless of our politics,
we are all musicians, brothers and sisters united by similar skills, goals, and aspirations.
I wish every success to all of my colleagues throughout the AFM. Yours in solidarity,
Greg Marks
executive board member / office administrator
New Brunswick Musicians’ Association, AFM Local 815
FOLLOWUP COMMENT FROM MR. MARKS
Hello Again,
As I was looking at the last newsletter once more, something else occurred to me
regarding the comment on “Hobbyist Locals” that I hadn’t mentioned in my earlier
response. Is the commenter lacking some basic mathematical skill? It is asserted
in the comment that if we were on a 1-vote-per-member system, then things would
be “far different.” The commenter tries to imply that the majority (part-time musicians)
wouldn’t be able to vote down the minority (full-time musicians). Regardless of whether
votes are 1-per-member or not, the minority is still outnumbered; it is inherent in the
very definition of the word.
Even in the larger Locals, the part-timers outnumber the full-timers (and I suspect
some of the smaller Locals have a much larger percentage of full-timers than the
larger Locals do. It would be interesting to run an AFM census to find out). Unless the
commenter is implying that the delegates should cast votes in a manner that is not
representative of the interests of their respective constituencies - a true “perversion
of democracy,” if ever there was one - I fail to see how the minority could benefit
from this arrangement. Take another look at those numbers; you may well discover
that you’re better off the way things are.
[Mr. Marks,
Bravo! As a small addition to your thoughts above. As we all now know, the elites who
just a few years ago said anyone who didn't make their full living from recording are
amateurs or hobbyists are now doing demos and in many cases non-union dates
here in Los Angeles. We've now confirmed that some of those same elites are playing
student film scoring classes at USC and UCLA. Those are important to be sure, but a
few years ago these folks would have said playing such things is "beneath" them.
Still, the RMA tries to blame Tom Lee for what they've done to all of us.
As we're fond of metaphors, here's another: It's like someone slamming their car
into a brick wall while they're the only one wearing a seat beat, then trying to
blame the dealership for the damage.
(And the AFM is not Toyota or Lexus!)]
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February 26th, 2010 The Committee
FEATURED COMMENTS EDITION
Colleagues,
As you know, we sometimes have featured comments. This past week
has seen so many worthy comments that we decided to feature six
of them in one mailing.
I. FEATURED COMMENT ONE: THE MENTALITY WE’RE UP AGAINST
II. FEATURED COMMENT TWO: MR. FINCK SPEAKS
III. FEATURED COMMENT THREE: STAN LEE PRODUCTIONS
IV. FEATURED COMMENT FOUR - CALLING OUT ANOTHER MEMBER
V. FEATURED COMMENT FIVE: SEATTLE RECORDING
VI. FEATURED COMMENT SIX: CONCERNING PETE ANTHONY
VII. COMMENTS
VIII. EVENTS
===========================
I. FEATURED COMMENT ONE: THE MENTALITY WE’RE UP AGAINST
We received a comment that perfectly encapsulates the elitist
attitudes of those sympathetic to the RMA ideology.
“As is obvious to all full-time working musicians, the 50-vote cap
places an inordinate amount of power in the hands of the “hobbyist
locals”, allowing the election of officers more politically beholden
to them rather than to the minority of AFM members who actually make
their livings in the music profession. This is a perversion of
democracy. Had we a one-member-one-vote structure, the AFM would be
a far different organization than it is now.”
[HOBBYIST LOCALS?] There it is folks. Regardless of the tens of thousands
of professional musicians who make there living in orchestras throughout
the country from those “Hobbyist Locals”; Regardless of the tens of thousands
of professional musicians who make their living playing in operas and
live theater throughout the country from those “Hobbyist Locals”; Regardless
of the tens of thousands of professional musicians who use a combination
of the jobs above PLUS freelancing; you are nothing but hobbyists to
these elitists who see only themselves as “real” musicians.
It is these folks and their attitudes that will be working to take over our
Federation at the next AFM Convention. Bullies only succeed if they’re not
stood up to.
Gather your troops, work out your stratagies and be prepared to fight for the
survival of our Federation against these folks. You know they’re preparing.
You, our true AFM Backbone, have to be ready to fight for all of our rights,
all of our futures and the future of the AFM against this destructive,
divisive block of musicians.
NON-UNION YO-CATS
One final note here: It has just been confirmed to us that many of the YO-CATS,
the very ones who call everyone else hobbyists, have recently done a NON-UNION
recording session or sessions here in Los Angeles. Was this one busted? Of course
not. If we found out about it certainly the Local did. They dare to look down on
and condemn everyone else when even they are doing non-union jobs?.
That’s cajones.
THE COMMITTEE
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February 19th, 2010 The Committee
I. HEY RMA, YOUR PRESIDENT WAS WORKING NON-AFM IN LONDON, AGAIN
II. PUDDING AND PROOF
III. RMA COMPLAINS AGAIN
IV. COMMENTS
V. EVENTS
Colleagues, We usually have a pretty good idea of what we’re going to
address in each mailing, but sometimes current events seem to take
over the process. This week is such an event. There was so much
important information we received over the last few days that it
completely changed the makeup this week’s offering. We say this
just in case a few of our readers find this week’s offering a bit
heavy in certain areas.
===========================
I. HEY RMA, YOUR PRESIDENT WAS WORKING NON-AFM IN LONDON
WITHIN THE LAST FEW MONTHS
We have sources in Los Angeles and London who are telling us that
the sequel to the movie “Nanny McPhee” was recorded last month in London
for an August, 2010 release.
COMPOSER - James Newton Howard
Among the Orchestrators - CURRENT RMA PRESIDENT Pete Anthony.
We understand that he got a quite generous high three-figure BUYOUT
page rate.
We also understand that the RMA President PETE ANTHONY conducted the
sessions there as well…. IN LONDON.
Some time ago we reported that Pete Anthony, before being the RMA President,
but while he was a very high profile RMA member, was filmed recording the
score for “The Water Horse” at Abby Road Studios in London. Naturally,
our Local Officers stayed dutifully silent on the non-union conducting
work.
That’s your Recording Musicians Association president, folks. You know, the
“NO BUYOUT, NO WAY” people?
Hey RMAers and RMA Leaders,.. where is your outrage?… are you going to
stay silent or hold your president accountable? Considering your recent
hemorrhaging about NON-UNION orchestrating and copying in a recent
mailing of yours, you should be really angry, or are your “values”
conditional on WHO does the rule breaking?
TO OUR LOCAL 47 OFFICERS
What are you going to do about it President Trombetta?
What are you going to do about it Vice-President Acosta?
It happened in the last couple of months, you have a year to take action.
You’ve been coming down really hard on players you catch playing
non-union sessions and gigs trying to pay their mortgages, but not
fat cats further stuffing their wallets who can certainly afford to bypass
such jobs. (Everyone here knows that most A listers are playing non-
union sessions, including some of our board members.)
This is no different. Are you going to apply the rules equally, or give
your RMA overlords a pass?
Are you going to do your job Vince?….. John?….
If our sources are incorrect in any way, we’ll be more than happy to set
the record straight and apologize if need be, but having two sources
from two different countries, the story seems to check out.
We suspect the Local Officers will say nothing. Or if one of them has
the guts, they will file charges knowing Pete Anthony will get a free
pass from the administration’s rubber stamp trial board.
Colleagues, contact the board members and demand equal enforcement
of the rules. If they’re going to bust LOCAL 47 members for non union
work here, or anywhere else, they need to make sure it’s not SELECTIVE
enforcement.
Is it the RMA or the Bylaws that govern your actions, Local 47.
Let’s find out.
THE COMMITTEE
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February 11th, 2010 The Committee
I. FEATURED COMMENT
II. ANOTHER MONTH, TWO COMPETITIVE WORK ATTEMPTS
III. TRIPE THIS - COMMENT
IV. ASMAC HONORS JERRY SHARELL
V. COMMENTS
VI. EVENTS
===========================
I. FEATURED COMMENT
SELA is never coming back. Mark my words. They will string the
membership along with a particle of hope every now and then with
no intention of ever bringing it back. A year from now - after the
next election - our lawyer, who really runs Local 47, will find
another reason to study it further, in fact he’ll probably decide
that the contract has to be completely rewritten. After all, even he
doesn’t want to see it totally go away. The membership might notice.
Or put another way - they are working on bringing back SELA just
as hard as they are working on the referral service website. It’s beyond
being a joke. It’s been years and years and years since the referral
service has been running effectively or at all. The membership even
passed a motion that the referral service MUST be restored to its former
effectiveness. The membership should be incensed. Most of them don’t
know that they are losing jobs from the referral service because most of
them have never gotten a job from the referral service at this point.
Too much time has passed.
A referral service committee was set up (elected or appointed, I’ve forgotten)
to work with the administration, but, sad to say, it has been a failure. The
administration has played the committee and the rank & file membership
like a Stradivarius.
So what do we do about SELA? Forget about it. It’s time to stop putting time
and energy into something that the administration will never let return.
What’s next? I have two suggestions. One’s a no brainer. The other is
radical, but it’s time.
First - switch the freeelance musicians to the AFM LS-1 contract. It covers
pension but not health insurance. It’s a simple 2-page form. A band leader met
with two officials at the Local who told the leader to go ahead and use it.
But the leader got a call the next day. They had talked with Levy the lawyer
about the LS-1. The leader was told that the contract might not work in Local
47. The LS-1 is a NATIONAL contract! The leader was told they could tentatively
let him use it, but each contract had to be PRE-approved on a case by case basis!
What a joke.
They really don’t want the membership to know about this contract. Let’s
change that.
And they really don’t want the membership to use the LS-1 because no
money would come into the H&W fund from the club date freelancers. It would hurt
but not cripple the fund. The most steady income the fund has is probably
from the symphonic and pit orchestra freelancers who perform with the 50+
symphonies and theatres that have CBAs with Local 47. That’s a sizable group
of musicians. Put the club date freelancers with that, all contributing 10% of
each gig to the Health & Welfare Fund, year after year, and you get significant
amounts of money into the fund.
All that money, all those musicians, contracts, paperwork, year in year out -
LESS THAN 100 MEMBERS GET HEALTH INSURANCE FROM THE FUND.
Out of 8000 Local 47 members, less than 100 members. That is the figure that
people in the know whisper. And why do we have to listen to whispers? Because
the fund trustees, most conspicuously Local 47 President Vince Trombetta, will
not tell us how many members qualify!
This system is broken beyond repair. The studio musicians have their own
separate “Cadillac” health plan that has nothing to do with the Local 47 H&W.
Most members don’t know that. Some members grumble that their contributions
are going to pay for the fat cats’ insurance. No it isn’t. So where does the money
go? An excellent question, and good luck finding an answer. But I can tell you where
it doesn’t go. It doesn’t go back to the membership in the form of health insurance.
For all we know it vanishes. The fund trustees are obviously not responsible to the
membership.
Radical solution - Someone at a membership meeting: “I move that Local 47 make
available a pay as you go health insurance plan to the membership; and further that
Local 47 immediately cease making contributions to the Health & Welfare Fund, and
cease all business with the Fund, and terminate the positions of all Local 47 Trustees
to the Fund.”
…and whoever would make a motion like that had best have health insurance beforehand…
[EDITOR'S COMMENT: We hope you're wrong, but fear you are.]
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February 5th, 2010 The Committee
I. LETTER FROM THE SMALL LOCALS COMMITTEE
II. A RECENT QOUTE FROM THE LATEST RMA TRIPE
III. WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE? - TEACHING BENEFITS
IV. COMMENTS
V. EVENTS
===========================
I. LETTER FROM THE SMALL LOCALS COMMITTEE
We just received this publication from the Small Locals Committee.
They are waking up to the threat of the RMA and their ilk to our
federation and are starting to fight back, as we all should!
We’re with you 100%! Let us know how we can help.
I WENT TO THE LIBRARY FOR SLC
John Leite, SLC Chairman, AFM
“1. Small Children should be seen, not heard
2. A Chinese man walking down to the ocean with a basket on
his back was stopped by his friend, who asked, “Where are you
going with the basket?” “To the ocean to dump it out.” “What’s
in the basket?” He replied, “My Grandmother, she is old an useless.”
His friend said, “Save the Basket”"
In Paul Gunther’s article, ICSOM December 2009: “Voting rights are
held not by individual union members like you and me, but rather
by a small number of elected delegates from locals. The number of
voting delegates, along with the number of votes assigned to each,
is determined by the size of the local. Each local — no matter how
small — is allocated at least one delegate with at least one vote.”
I guess that is not fair!! Or at least to the author of the December ‘09
issue of Senza Sordino.
He continues on:
“Although structured with an eye toward fair representation, this can cause
a lopsided voting system. Every small local - no matter how few members,
and perhaps with no symphonic members at all - has a delegate with one
or more votes. Yet larger locals may have only two or three delegates casting
all their vote.
For example, the Twin Cities Musicians Union (Local 30-73, Minneapolis
and Saint Paul) with two ICSOM orchestras and one ROPA orchestra,
and nearly 1,400 members, elects only three voting delegates. Therefore
a dozen small locals, each with 50-100 members, probably few to none
of them symphonic, would aggregate four times as many voting delegates
controlling all their votes.”
Members of Symphony Orchestras are not the only “Working Musicians”
in the AFM.
The RMA has “Working Musicians”,
The TMA has “Working Musicians”,
Small Local’s have “Working Musicians”,
Freelance players are “Working Musicians”.
In fact, all AFM locals contain what are called “Working Musicians”.
That simply means that we ALL contribute to the AFM coffers. Whether
paying Work Dues or Per Capita, which by the way is the same for ALL
Regular members throughout the AFM. There must be mutual respect
amongst all AFM members for us all to survive.
All Delegates deserve to vote on all candidates, laws, resolutions or other
changes in the bylaws. When the Delegates have made their decisions and
the Convention is over, we must all abide by the voting members. If a group
or an individual wants the bylaws to change, the ONLY place to do that is at
the Convention not in the Courts, Newsletters, Emails, Letters or elsewhere.
We all deserve to be represented regardless of the size of the local.
One thing that seems to be misunderstood by many AFM members is that the
number of Local delegates and the number of Local votes are two different
numbers.
For instance, a large local can have 5 delegates and 11 votes BUT not all Delegates
necessarily will vote the same way. Paul seems to be confused on this.
A representative democracy is especially important to the small Locals because the
system insures a voice for all, and the number of votes a Local has based on its
membership is the balance to the number of delegates a Local has.
Finally, the writer picked out three of the favorable, for his purposes, statements
from the AFM Mission Statement.
* We will have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect us.
* Our collective voice and power will be realized in a democratic and progressive
union.
* We must commit to actively participating in the democratic institutions of our
union.
Space prohibits the insertion of ALL of Article 2 Sec. 1 - Mission Statement
but these three do NOT reflect the total meaning of the AFM Mission Statement.
Please take the time and read the entire Mission Statement in the AFM Bylaws (Pg.2).
to understand the full meaning. ALL musicians are equal regardless
of their local’s size.
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January 29th, 2010 The Committee
I. THIRTY-SIX SHOW FOR MEETING, SIGNATURE RESTRICTIONS PASSES, APATHY REINS
II. BILLY MITCHELL HONORED
III. SELA UPDATE
IV. COMMENTS
V. EVENTS
===========================
I. THIRTY-SIX SHOW FOR MEETING, SIGNATURE RESTRICTIONS PASS, APATHY REINS
There were approx. thirty-six people (including board members) at Monday’s
Local 47 General Membership Meeting. Thanks to a bylaw amendment
written by former VP David Schubach, the president had to open an
executive board meeting on the spot and publically vote on the signature
collecting resolution, thus not wasting the time of those who took the
time to come down to the meeting.
Members spoke for and against Gary Lasley’s proposed resolution with a
two minute time limit. Some asked questions and voiced concerns that the
resolution was too broad and ill-defined, inviting future problems. Among
those who spoke about those problems was a board member.
Member Helen Crosby shared her research on Labor law and information
shared with her by the DOL, and how the proposed restrictions are
problematic and will cause action later.
In the end, as predicted, the board voted to adopt the resolution
and codify it into the bylaws and in the process alienate Rank and
FIle in yet another way. We’ve been in conversations with ways to
fight this resolution. When we know, you’ll hear about it.
Of the board in attendance:
Those who voted for FOR the resolution:
-Vice-President Acosta
-Paul Castillo
-Judy Chilnick
-Pam Gates
-Secretary/Treasurer Lashinsky
-Gary Lasley (The writer of the resolution)
-Lesa Terry
Those who voted against:
Roy D’Antonio
Bonnie Janofsky
Don Muggeridge
With the resolution delivered for benefit of the incumbents, the
meeting was called at 7:40PM
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January 22nd, 2010 The Committee
I. LOCAL 47 MEMBERSHIP MEETING THIS MONDAY, JANUARY 25th, 7PM
II. COMMENTS ABOUT AMIE MOORE
III. ERIC HOSLER RESPONDS
IV. FILM MUSIC: THE WORLD VIEW
V. COMMENTS
VI. EVENTS
===========================
I. LOCAL 47 MEMBERSHIP MEETING THIS MONDAY, JANUARY 25th, 7PM
IMPORTANT COMMENT FROM A MEMBER CONCERNING THIS MONDAY’S MEETING!
We thank the member for the corrections to our previous mailing.
Hello!
If there is not a quorum then under the new rules (this will be the first
application), an immediate Executive Session will be called….pro-tem
appointed if necessary to make a quorum, and after reasonable discussion
(see your Overture for the exact wording) the Executive Board must vote.
So it will NOT be the NEXT DAY that this resolution will be decided…it
will be in front of anyone who is present Monday night.
Union members are guaranteed the right to free speech AND
ASSEMBLY both inside and outside union meetings. Speech
protected under the LMRDA includes not only the right to verbally
support a members’ choice of candidates, but also the right to
criticize election procedures and decisions which the member
feels are in conflict with the democratic policies behind the
LMRDA.
Even common sense dictates that for those rank & file members
who so desire, becoming a candidate for office should be a
process made as open and accessible as possible; not a
process that is difficult and prohibitive, and obviously favoring
the incumbents.
The Resolution at issue must be defeated and if it is not it will be
formally appealed to the Department of Labor after the election.
This proposed bylaw change is certainly not a reasonable rule
or regulation to be imposed on the membership, in fact, it prohibits
rank and file participation AND give the incumbent administration
an unfair advantage. The Office of Labor Management Standards
that has regulatory oversight for union elections has in place
procedures for such a challenge/appeal. This proposed resolution
to be voted on at Local 47’s membership meeting Jan. 25th will
make it much more difficult for the vast majority of the
membership who are not regularly employed in larger groups to
be able to get the requisite 50 signatures to run for office at
Local 47.
Such a restriction imposes a significant burden on those members.
Voting against this bylaw change at the next membership meeting
is VERY important. Incumbents inherently have a huge advantage
anyway. We should not vote to make it even harder for regular
rank and file members to run for office! PLEASE attend the next
Local 47 meeting to vote against this bylaw change!
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January 15th, 2010 The Committee
DON’T FORGET THE JANUARY 25TH GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING!
I. FMA REPORT AND COMMENTS ON SELAS
II. TITLED OFFICER CONTINUES TO SEEK COMPETiTIVE EMPLOYMENT
III. WHERE IS AMIE MOORE?
IV. COMMENTS ABOUT THE THE RMA, AFM AND THE UPCOMING CONVENTION
V. COMMENTS
VI. EVENTS
Make plans now to attend the JANUARY 25th, 2010 LOCAL 47
general membership meeting! Help stop the ban on election
signature gathering on our property!
=================
I. FMA REPORT AND COMMENTS ON SELAS
Hello FMA-L.A. Members:
Happy New Year!
SELA update:
On November 19, 2009 our H&W Trustees met to discuss the
future of the SELA contract. As you know, the three Management
Trustees are extremely concerned about their liability regarding
the four (documented) instances of possible fraud committed
in 2009.
——————————-
Local #47 Vice President John Acosta gives us the following
report from the Nov 19 meeting:
The Trustees deferred the decision due to what they explained
was “a lengthy set of new rules & regulations that Lewis Levy
had prepared”. From what I have been told they will be meeting
soon after the holiday to make a final decision.
I am writing my own letter to them, urging them to take
action, and will let you know when that goes out.
Best,
John Acosta
Vice-President
Professional Musicians Local 47
Tel 323-993-3173 Fax 323-461-3090
——————————-
Lisa Haley again:
I just heard back from my own Tax CPA, who outlined for
me the true cost of incorporating in California. The cost to
Members to incorporate (even at the lowest rate,) or use a
Payroll service is more than most of our Members can
possibly afford in this economy - (unless one was already
making enough money that one needed an extra $2000
per year tax write-off.) The idea that any employer is going
to come up with more money in order for us to use one of
the above alternatives is extremely unrealistic in this
economy.
We truly need our SELA back.
Several members have made the following statements, which
we just submitted to John Acosta, Lewis Levy and Leslie
Lashinsky:
1.) In other Unions where there is Federal fraud, the perpetrators
are punished; no system is shut down to penalize the rest of the
membership. Why is this circumstance different? Because the
H&W Management Trustees are trying to avoid being scrutinized
by Federal authorities… at our expense.
2.) If the H&W Management Trustees have committed negligence
which resulted in a lack of oversight, encouraging fraud; Then those
Trustees fully deserve to come under the scrutiny of the IRS and DOL,
rather than penalizing those law-abiding Members who are currently
unable to receive their H&W and Pension contributions.
3.) When the SELA is reinstated, every band leader in good standing
deserves to have their H&W and Pension contributions retroactively
reinstated. After all, they are fully documented. This “hiatus” of our
SELA should never have happened in the first place.
4.) When the minimum contribution amount was $600, the “rollover”
threshold was also $600. Now that the minimum contribution amount
is $900, the rollover should also raise to $900, and it should be
retroactive to Oct 1, 2009. Why should hard-working Members lose
up to $300 apiece in this economy?
5.) Members are extremely unhappy with PacFed and its negligent
practices and we should look for a new administrator.
Jan 25 General Meeting:
We have requested a “Report on the status of our SELA” on the
Agenda. It is important that we all attend!
FMA Members, please consider emailing our Executive Board if
you would like to see SELA discussed:
pres3@promusic47.org
leslie.Lashinsky@promusic47.org
vp@promusic47.org;
secretary@promusic47.org
judychilnick@sbcglobal.net
gumbah@sbcglobal.net
pamgates@aol.com
GHuckins@aol.com
BRJanofsky@sbcglobal.net
gary@arcobass.com
lesaterry@earthlink.net
pcklar@earthlink.net
dmugger@aol.com
Regards,
Lisa Haley
President, FMA-L.A.
==========================
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January 8th, 2010 The Committee
I. WE NEED YOU AT THE JANUARY 25, 2010 GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING!
II. THE SHIV IS IN
III. LA OPERA GET THE CALL
IV. COMMENTS
V. EVENTS
=================
I. LOCAL BOARD TRIES TO POTENTIALLY DISENFRANCHISE MEMBERSHIP:
WE NEED YOU AT THE NEXT MEETING JANUARY 25!
At the last general membership meeting, there was a resolution
presented that would forbid the collection of signatures on nominating
petitions to run for Local 47 elected positions anywhere on the Local 47
property. The membership sensed there was something fishy about this
resolution and turned it back to committee.
PREVIOUS PRACTICE
The previous practice that has established itself over the years is:
You cannot collect signatures in the Local’s main building or the
rehearsals rooms, but the parking lot is fair game.
This is the most logical and fair system and believe THESE
are the terms that should be placed into the bylaws.
THE LAW
The law (see the Department of Labor-LMRDA) attempts to make
elections a fair playing field for ALL of the MEMBERS i.e. “rank and
file” who seek to participate in their union governance. While there
are laws regarding the use of union facilities by candidates, our
bylaws are not violative of the LMRDA or any other administrative
regulation. The mere presence of a RANK and FILE member on the
property to collect petition signatures DOES NOT and has not,
“under Federal Law”, meant that a member should be prohibited
from collecting signatures for election on Local 47 property. Indeed
this has been the past practice at our local.
Ask yourselves why this resolution has been put forward?
OUR PROPERTY
Our Local 47 property, is a unique property. Unlike and differentiated
from the carpenters union, the electricians union, or the plumbers
union…WE MEET TO WORK…on Vine Street!
The Local 47 facilities that WE PAY FOR contain our Rehearsal
Studios, and the Auditorium and are used for PROFESSIONAL
purposes.
As long as it is the policy of the Federal oversite agencies that
all parties are TREATED EQUALLY…it is absolutely fair that the
“rank and file” can collect signatures on Union property. Any
changes to the bylaws should make it easier to participate in
the governance of our Local, not harder. This resolution is an
attempt to restrict participation and disenfranchise members.
FAXING SIGNATURES
While electronic media is now being used in business and law,
including being able to sign your name, why is it we cannot use
fax signatures for petitions? We have heard the union’s attorney
use the argument that we have to do things a certain way because
much of the membership live a great distance from the local. Isn’t
that a good reason for candidates to be able to accept fax signatures
on their qualifying petitions?
Our incumbent elected officials have access to large groups of
musicians, e.g. backstage access to Los Angeles Philharmonic;
Hollywood Bowl Orchestra; all soundstages and theaters, etc. It is
not an even playing field now when it comes to getting signatures.
Not to allow the membership to “meet and greet” potential signatory
supporters where they can be found is a blatant attempt to restrict
participation and that is not the intent of Federal law, nor the true
ideals of unionism.
Protect your Local 47 colleagues rights! WE NEED YOU at the
meeting on January 25th, 7pm at the Local to stop the shutting
out of the membership.
If there is no quorum at the meeting on the 25th the board will
decide for all of us at their board meeting the next day.
One guess as to what they will decide.
When it comes to elections, members deserve a level playing
field with the present power structure.
Don’t let them tilt the field. Show up and be counted.
THE COMMITTEE
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December 30th, 2009 The Committee
I. FEATURED COMMENT: RICK BLANC RESPONSE TO DAVID POMEROY
II. RESPONSES TO THE LENNIE MOORE COMMENTARY
III. COMMENTS
IV. EVENTS
HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL! Have a safe holiday.
THE COMMITTEE
=================
I. FEATURED COMMENT: RICK BLANC RESPONSE TO DAVID POMEROY
In reference to Dave Pomeroy’s response to Lennie Moore’s post:
Those of us who have lived in LA may often have a stronger
anti-RMA animus than one might find in other parts of the
country — for obvious reasons I suppose. Lennie Moore
presents a reasoned argument reflecting the views of a
lot of rank-and-file union members.
To give credit where due I think Dave Pomeroy makes valid points
also and I believe he sincerely wants to improve things. Fact
is, the RMA is part of the AFM democracy. Neither Nashville nor NY
is dominated or controlled completely by RMA, although RMA members
and former members are part of those administrations. But the problem
goes beyond Dave’s description, it goes beyond whether or not the RMA
has captured control of the largest locals: The RMA and Fareplay have
sued the AFM in the past and are suing the AFM currently at the appellate
level: Beyond that there is a great deal of animus and rhetoric directed
against Tom Lee and his administration.
It is not enough to define “working together” as simply meaning some
musicians should refrain from accusations that certain locals are RMA
controlled. The music business and private sector unions are on the skids
across the board. There is blame to go around. If we would “work together”
for purposes of AFM unity there will need to be adjustments made across
the board, e.g., more RMA flexibility, fewer expensive lawsuits, more
cooperation with, and less demonization of, the Lee Administration.
I would grant Pomeroy his point. But this is one point — perhaps one of
three in the pursuit of AFM unity:
1) As institutions reflecting union democracy we should not go overboard
accusing Nashville or NY of being RMA controlled.
2) We need to see some RMA flexibility, cooperation and a stop to the
litigation.
3) The RMA and certain others may be well advised to turn down the anti-Lee
rhetoric; if one doesn’t like an administration (read US administration;
I for one am not an Obama fan) one has to wait it out in the democratic
tradition until change occurs. Until all three of these areas see some
progress I don’t see how the process of “working together” is going to move
forward, although as Dave Pomeroy correctly asserts, working together and
AFM unity would inure to our common benefit.
RICK BLANC
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