12/1/17
I. OLD UNION BUILDING A LANDMARK?
II. MUSICIANS FOR PENSION SECURITY HONORED
III. AFM-EPF Trustees Ties to NCCMP — that’s a problem.
IV. EVENTS
HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM THE COMMITTEE!
…Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer
…The one voice of reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’
scoring musician
…Allows us to speak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician
…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician
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I. Hollywood’s 1950s musicians union building
could become a city landmark
The “foremost entertainers and studio musicians”
of the 1950s were members of the union
by Bianca Barragan Nov 20, 2017, 1:33pm PST
A two-story commercial building built in the ’50s
for a musicians union may be added to the city’s
roster of historic-cultural landmarks. The Cultural
Heritage Commission voted Thursday to consider
the Musician’s Union Hall on Vine Street near
Waring Avenue as a potential monument.
The historians at Esotouric noted that while this
is the first step on the road to landmark status,
it’s something to be excited about. The property
owners, Lincoln Property Company, are not
contesting the designation, and a representative
from the office of Los Angeles City Council
member Mitch O’Farrell spoke in favor of the
landmarking.
Completed in 1950, the Musicians Union of
Hollywood was one of the final commissions
of architect Gordon B. Kaufmann before his
death in 1949. Kaufmann was the architect
behind the Greystone Mansion in Beverly
Hills, a 1930s-era section of the Los Angeles
Times’s Times Mirror Square complex in
Downtown, and Hollywood hotspots the
Earl Carroll Theater and the Palladium.
With its boxy form; concrete, steel, and
glass construction; and its bands of metal
framed windows, the union hall is considered
an excellent example of Corporate International
architectural style, says the planning
department’s report on the structure.
Until July of this year, the structure “served
as a clubhouse and organization headquarters
for the Musicians Union Local 47, now known
as the American Federation of Musicians
Local 47,” the report says.
Both the building and its interiors have been
altered over the years, but many vintage
features remain, including a 1950s-era sign
next to the building’s marquee that features
an eighth note festooned with a “47” ribbon
and the words “Professional Musicians”,
“Local 47”, and “American Federation of
Musicians, AFL-CIO.”
The “foremost entertainers and studio musicians
of the era” were members of the Local 47,
including the famed Wrecking Crew, a group
of studio musicians who were the go-to
players for such big names as The Beach
Boys, Phil Spector, Frank Sinatra, Elvis,
The Byrds, and Simon and Garfunkel.
Read the article here:
https://preview.tinyurl.com/yc5q8ajn
[Colleagues, There was one commenter named
DISGUSTED who obviously was an interested
party, even knowing the numbers of the union
members who voted to sell. {Sensing recording
musician or local leadership.} Totally trashed the
whole idea of it’s consideration as a historical
monument.]
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II. Musicians for Pension Security Honored in Washington DC
The Pension Rights Center honored seven activists
and financial columnist Michelle Singletary at an
event held on November 7th, 2017 at the Carnegie
Institution in Washington, D.C. One of the activists
honored was Adam Krauthamer who is currently
the Executive Director of Musicians for Pension Security.
The Center honored retiree and worker activists
for their work to stop pension cuts and to work
toward a solution to solve underfunding in
multiemployer plans and protect retirees’
benefits. In speaking about the activists,
Karen Friedman, the Center’s Executive
Vice President, called them, “supermen
and superwomen and some of the most
inspirational people I’ve ever met. They truly
represent democracy-in-action.” Friedman
went on to say that, “Many of these individuals,
shy at first, have become fearless warriors,
first-rate financial analysts and lobbyists. They
have created an unstoppable movement and
have inspired legislation. I am convinced their
efforts will help stop pension cuts and save
multiemployer plans.” Read more about the event here.
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III. AFM-EPF Trustees Have Deep Ties to NCCMP
—and that’s a problem.
National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans
(NCCMP) is a trade association of multi-employer plans
in Washington DC. In 2014, they were instrumental in
formulating and passing MPRA, which is the law that
would allow cuts to our hard-earned pension benefits.
Our pension fund, the AFM-EPF, has deep connections
to the NCCMP going back many years. The AFM-EPF
is a dues-paying member of NCCMP and our AFM
trustees attend their conferences every year. Two of
our trustees, Christopher Brockmeyer and Bill Moriarity,
serve on NCCMP’s Board of Directors and Steering
Committee. Both have given lectures at those
conferences. Brockmeyer, the AFM-EPF’s trustee
co-chair, served on the NCCMP working group
which formulated the MPRA proposal.
MPRA has been a public policy disaster as many in
Congress on both sides of the aisle have openly
acknowledged. (Read the articles linked below.)
Even with bipartisan support to replace MPRA with
a much better alternative, the NCCMP is currently
fighting to preserve it and subvert current efforts to
replace it.
The alternative they are trying to block was recently
introduced by Senator Sherrod Brown and is called
the Butch Lewis Act, which would provide low-cost
government loans to troubled pension plans. The
proposed law would guarantee that all plan participants
receive 100% of their promised pension benefit.
This is a very worthy piece of legislation that
deserves our support and that of our trustees.
Unfortunately, NCCMP is circulating their own
proposal under which federal loans would not
be available to plans like the AFM-EPF plan.
Instead, the AFM-EPF plan would be forced to
stay under the current MPRA law and undergo
cuts to accrued benefits.
It would be a gross dereliction of duty for our
trustees to not actively support a legislative
proposal that preserves 100% of our hard-earned
pension benefits. That is what the Butch Lewis
Act does. We demand that the trustees reject
NCCMP’s attempt to undermine the Butch
Lewis Act.
ARTICLES ABOUT MPRA
Restoring pension accountability by giving
workers and retirees a seat at the table:
Rob Portman (Opinion)
https://preview.tinyurl.com/y9rkmaon
———————–
Portman Introduces Bill to Protect Pensions for 48,000 Ohioans
https://preview.tinyurl.com/y7jmdaxw
———————–
That awful congressional plan to allow pension cuts heads for enactment
https://preview.tinyurl.com/ybv2zt75
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MORE ABOUT NCCMP:
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IV. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks the first
Friday of
every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891
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12/6/17
PRESS RELEASE/ Wed DECEMBER 6, 2017 at
12:10-12:40 pm at the Free Admission
GLENDALE NOON CONCERTS/ Cellist DEREK
STEIN performs solo works by Hindemith, Prokofiev,
Nicholas Deyoe, P.D.Q. Bach, and Penderecki.
The DEC 6 Press Release & a color photo jpeg
cellist DEREK STEIN are attached.
http://www.glendalenoonconcerts.blogspot.com
Thank you!
Jacqueline Suzuki
Curator, Glendale Noon Concerts
818 -249-5108
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12/6/17
First WEDNESDAYS: Joe Kraemer
Dec 6 @ 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
Joe Kraemer will be discussing his compositional
process, from spotting, through thematic development,
composition, mocking-up, recording, and finally
mixing. He will be including clips of his work
from JACK REACHER and MISSION
IMPOSSIBLE, including behind-the-scenes
footage and alternate cues, as well as examples
of sketches and conductor’s scores.
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12/17/17
ASMAC/LAJS Holiday party @ Catalina’s in Hollywood
Dec 17 @ 11:30 am – 3:00 pm
Bill Cunliffe Trio with special guest Denise Donatelli
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UNTIL NEXT TIME, THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47
h o n o r e d not honoered
and Saundra is a twat