{"id":28,"date":"2008-04-18T15:13:28","date_gmt":"2008-04-18T22:13:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/?p=28"},"modified":"2008-06-03T15:14:52","modified_gmt":"2008-06-03T22:14:52","slug":"more-espinosa-threatsrunaway-scoringeventscomments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/?p=28","title":{"rendered":"MORE ESPINOSA THREATS\/RUNAWAY SCORING\/EVENTS\/COMMENTS"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>COMMITTEE: THE COMMENTS EDITION<\/p>\n<p>I.\tMORE THREATS FROM PRESIDENT ESPINOSA\/THE FINAL RESPONCE<br \/>\nII.\tMEMBER COMMENTS CONCERNING ESPINOSA THREATS.<br \/>\nIII.\tRUNAWAY SCORING COMMENTS<br \/>\nIV.\tCONCERTS AND EVENTS<br \/>\nV.\tMORE GENERAL COMMENTS<\/p>\n<p>Colleagues, <\/p>\n<p>Firstly, please do not forget the Membership meeting Monday<br \/>\nApril 28th at 7pm! The RMA seems to be working hard to get<br \/>\ntheir members there.  This usually does not bode well for the<br \/>\nrank and file but only for themselves and the board. Ironically,<br \/>\nwhen the Rank and File attend, the things that happen are usually<br \/>\ngood for the entire membership.<\/p>\n<p>Please make plans to attend. We have to elect a new Trustee and<br \/>\nElection Board.<\/p>\n<p>THE COMMITTEE<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>There have been so many impressive and excellent comments<br \/>\nlately that we will give the disclaimer here. The comments are<br \/>\nmarked clearly. <\/p>\n<p>Bravo to those members who take the time to write!<\/p>\n<p>The comments below and elsewhere in our offerings represent<br \/>\nthe uncensored views of the readers and not necessarily those<br \/>\nof the COMMITTEE.  In the faith that freedom of expression<br \/>\nallows for the birth and ascendancy of the most beneficial ideas,<br \/>\nall sentiments expressed are welcome, subject to the bounds of<br \/>\ngood taste and decorum.   If you disagree with an opinion expressed<br \/>\n by any contributor, we encourage you to rebut it here.<\/p>\n<p>THE COMMITTEE<\/p>\n<p>==============<\/p>\n<p>I. CONCERNING MR. ESPINOSA\u2019S LATEST<\/p>\n<p>It would seem that Mr. Espinosa is implying the possibility of legal<br \/>\naction against the COMMITTEE. Unless he\u2019s considering paying for<br \/>\nany such action out of his own pocket, he should make note of this<br \/>\nAFM Bylaw:<\/p>\n<p>Article 5 \u2013 Section 71<\/p>\n<p>Whenever the IEB has substantial reason to believe that a Local, or the<br \/>\nLocal\u2019s Officers or members, are (1) acting in violation of the AFM Bylaws,<br \/>\n(2) disobeying a lawful order of the Convention, the IEB, or the International<br \/>\nPresident, (3) mismanaging the Local\u2019s financial affairs or otherwise conducting<br \/>\nthe affairs in a fiscally unsound manner, or (4) ENGAGING IN ANY ACTIVITY<br \/>\nOR COURSE OF CONDUCT DETRIMENTAL TO THE WELFARE OR<br \/>\nINTERESTS OF THE AFM OR LOCAL, the IEB may place the Local in<br \/>\ntrusteeship.<\/p>\n<p>Food for thought.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>CONCERNING HIS THINLY VEILED THREAT TO ERROL AND BARBARA.<\/p>\n<p>Having the Committee inform the membership that both Errol<br \/>\nand Barbara settled their lawsuits is no more a &#8220;sue-able&#8221; offense<br \/>\nthan inferring that RMA-L.A. leaders are also the leaders of<br \/>\nthe PMG, or reporting that President Espinosa was seen helping<br \/>\na convicted Felon carry boxes of documents down the back stairs<br \/>\nlate at night after the Felon\u2019s firing, or inferring that our Officers<br \/>\nhave been bent on destroying our valuable Member services departments.  <\/p>\n<p>That their lawsuits were settled is public record.<\/p>\n<p>Mr. Espinosa\u2019s own statement admits that those lawsuits were<br \/>\nindeed settled by #47 after all. No one spoke directly to Errol or<br \/>\nBarbara\u2026 Mr. Espinosa just made assumptions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>ASSAULT ON THE CREDABILITY OF THE COMMITTEE<\/p>\n<p>President Espinosa calls us a \u201cso-called Committee.\u201d So Called.<br \/>\nHal\u2019s statement that the Committee&#8217;s statements are \u201cjust made<br \/>\nup stories to suit their assault on the Local and its members\u201d is<br \/>\nsad \u2013 doesn\u2019t he realize that everyone who contributes to the<br \/>\nCommittee blog IS a Member of our Local?&#8230; A WORKING<br \/>\nMember who is tired of the lack of representation for the majority?<\/p>\n<p>In other words, Hal is choosing to turn a deaf ear to the problems<br \/>\nby pretending that no one blogging the Committee is a dues-<br \/>\npaying Union member. Riddle us this: Who else would care enough<br \/>\nto write?<\/p>\n<p>IF the usually reliable sources who told us that Hal was in depositions<br \/>\nfor a Fi-Core lawsuit were false, then we have already apologized.<br \/>\nWe always strive to print the truth and will admit when mistakes<br \/>\nare made.<\/p>\n<p>However, if it comes to light that our sources were correct, we<br \/>\nwill expect an appropriate apology from President Espinosa.<\/p>\n<p>WE CONSIDER THIS MATTER CLOSED<\/p>\n<p>We will waste no more of our or our readers valuable time on it.<br \/>\nMr. Espinosa received an apology where appropriate.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s hear what members had to say\u2026<\/p>\n<p>II. MEMBER COMMENTS CONCERNING THE RECENT THREATS<br \/>\nTO THE COMMITTEE FROM PRESIDENT ESPINOSA.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>Give them the apology they want. Dear Local 47, we<br \/>\napologize for being a professional musicians in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>Comm 47, <\/p>\n<p>Best that no one person (including the editor) give a  response to<br \/>\nsuch a lame communication. Re: Enough is Enough final&#8230;yada. <\/p>\n<p>  The Local leadership comes off really bad in the response. It is<br \/>\nimportant however, that all readers know, the &#8220;Committee&#8221; is an<br \/>\nad hoc group of persons who engage to comment or seek information<br \/>\n(at any time). Anyone with a point of view, has and is welcome to<br \/>\ncontact the site and communicate. <\/p>\n<p>The answer to problems is not to limit speech, but seek more<br \/>\nspeech. You only seek to identify the weaknesses in our leadership<br \/>\nthat is complicit in causing the disintegration of our professional<br \/>\nenvironment in the workplace&#8230;. and I dare say in the eyes of the<br \/>\npublic (that this administration has ignored). <\/p>\n<p>Because the site has an editor, (active in seeing a fair and equitable<br \/>\nrepresentation for all the &#8220;brotherhood&#8221;) you are easily identified.<br \/>\nBeing a facilitator of free speech and exchange of ideas for the<br \/>\nbenefit of the collective interest&#8230;seems to me, a protected enterprise.  <\/p>\n<p>Less is more.<\/p>\n<p>Let them chase windmills!! The best case scenario is that there<br \/>\nwill be even  more from the elected leadership. Given what has<br \/>\nalready been said&#8230;the saying holds true &#8220;people tend to eliminate<br \/>\nthemselves&#8221;. <\/p>\n<p>Patients is a virtue. Embrace it!! Have faith in your fellow members,<br \/>\nthat they will see this attack for what it is and be dumbfounded<br \/>\nby Hal&#8217;s response.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>Dear Committee,<\/p>\n<p>In the latest e-mail blast from Local 47 president Espinosa, he<br \/>\nsent a message demanding yet another retraction and apology;<br \/>\nas well as threatening legal action for the Committee&#8217;s e-mail<br \/>\nregarding a lawsuit in which he was allegedly involved.  I&#8217;m not<br \/>\nwriting you to make personal attacks or make statements as to<br \/>\nwhat the facts are in this case; but receiving his e-mail (which I<br \/>\nassume was received by every Local 47 member with an e-mail<br \/>\naddress) made me stop and wonder: does Hal think the entire<br \/>\nLocal 47 is ON the &#8216;Committee&#8217;?  Why else would our &#8220;Instigator<br \/>\nIn Chief&#8221; send the message to everyone in the Local instead of<br \/>\ndemanding a retraction simply by sending an e-mail to just the<br \/>\nCommittee.  <\/p>\n<p>Surely his knowledge of the Committee&#8217;s e-mails indicates he has<br \/>\nread them.  And if he has, you would assume he can find the<br \/>\n&#8220;reply&#8221; button &#8211; i.e. he has the e-mail address to send his complaint.<br \/>\nNo, instead, I open my e-mail and even though I am not on the<br \/>\nCommittee, I am reading his message TO the Committee.  Why?<br \/>\nI can only guess that he is trying to stir up resentment and<br \/>\nmotivate other union members to pressure the Committee into<br \/>\nsilence.  <\/p>\n<p>The Committee has already demonstrated its willingness to present<br \/>\nopposing viewpoints and make apologies where appropriate, but<br \/>\nthis isn&#8217;t good enough for Hal.  If our union president does not<br \/>\nstop using his political position for his own rants instead of union<br \/>\nbusiness that applies to the membership as a whole, I will be<br \/>\nadding a new e-mail &#8216;filter&#8217; to my in-box.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>How very interesting.<\/p>\n<p>Public figures like presidents of Unions cannot sue anyone for<br \/>\nsuch statements as &#8220;he&#8217;s been called into a lawyer&#8217;s office.&#8221;<br \/>\nIf you had called Hal a child molester, that would be defamation<br \/>\nof character. But claiming he went to depositions doesn&#8217;t defame<br \/>\nhis character.<\/p>\n<p>Especially since he&#8217;s admitting the lawsuits, and that he&#8217;s had<br \/>\nsome legal proceeding, but only denies the word &#8220;deposition.&#8221;  <\/p>\n<p>Hal may feel he has nothing to lose &#8211; that it can&#8217;t hurt his<br \/>\npolitical career to file personal lawsuits against Members. &#8211; it<br \/>\nWILL hurt his entire slate in December, and the resulting stink<br \/>\nwill change the hearts of Members who are tired of the corruption<br \/>\nand just needed one more scandal to abate their fear of change.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>Hello  ________,<br \/>\n   There is nothing in the executive board meetings or any other<br \/>\nmeeting that union officials have that should not be disclosed to<br \/>\nany union member.  Local 47 President Hal Espinosa is at the<br \/>\nhelm. He is ultimately responsible for how our union is run. His<br \/>\ndemand for an apology is a smoke screen. I think he is a \u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022[term<br \/>\nremoved]. Prove it to us. Tell all. The only time Mr. Espinosa<br \/>\nresponds to Resp Comm is when someone gets close to the truth<br \/>\nand he has to defend himself. But then again, he&#8217;s got our union<br \/>\nfunds to do that with (is that legal?) He is spending legal fees to<br \/>\ndefend his position as president and RMALA. Both those parties<br \/>\nare misspending union funds on legal fees that reek of politics. <\/p>\n<p>The fact that the executive board was mute when asked by Mark<br \/>\nSazer and Phil Ayling for money to mount a legal battle against<br \/>\nour AF of M is proof of that. The RMALA&#8217;s &#8220;olive branch&#8221; is only<br \/>\nbeing extended because they know they are in trouble with their<br \/>\nown membership. They are not interested in changes that would<br \/>\ninclude others outside their little clique. And they need to keep<br \/>\ntheir membership in line because we have a union meeting coming<br \/>\nup soon. It&#8217;s not because they are being nice. <\/p>\n<p>So do you mean to tell me that after all our union president and<br \/>\nRMALA (controlled mainly by the one contractor) has done to try<br \/>\nto take over the AF of M, chase recording out of town, fine San<br \/>\nDiego dark date people $1,500.00 apiece, try to trash the referral<br \/>\nservice,  or suggest that if you don&#8217;t work full time as a player on<br \/>\nfilm scores you\u2019re a hobbyist, etc. etc., they are now turning over<br \/>\na new leaf? Give me a break. They are AFRAID. Fear is what drives<br \/>\nthe RMALA leadership now. They don&#8217;t understand anything else.<br \/>\nIt is what they use to control it&#8217;s own membership.<\/p>\n<p>[EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: As we have said before, \u201cIf the Board is doing<br \/>\nsomething they don\u2019t want the members to know about, chances<br \/>\nare they shouldn\u2019t be doing it.\u201d]<\/p>\n<p>==============<\/p>\n<p>III. MEMBER COMMENTS CONCERNING RUNAWAY SCORING<\/p>\n<p>Dear COMMITTEE<\/p>\n<p>I completely agree with getting the other unions on board and<br \/>\nmaking the runaway produced films ineligible for American<br \/>\nAwards Ceremonies!<\/p>\n<p>Jennifer Walton<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>About your solutions to runaway scoring. You can&#8217;t force production<br \/>\ncompanies to work with us. Threatening to make them in-eligible for<br \/>\nawards will never work. Getting other unions to side with us<br \/>\nobviously isn&#8217;t going to happen. If we want to bring back work we<br \/>\nhave to compete for it. We have to give the best product for the best<br \/>\nprice, end of story. That is how the work was taken from us &#038; that is<br \/>\nthe only way we will get it back. <\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>getting the no awards for any non-union work can work but it will<br \/>\nhave to be with the RMALA and the AFM spearheading it to the<br \/>\nother unions so we &#8220;come with the lunch&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>we would actually have to all work together &#8211; <\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>FYI Topic: BUYOUTS vs NON-BUYOUTS with the AFM.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some facts regarding some music done under AFM contracts:<\/p>\n<p>Videogames: no residuals based on sales. ever.<\/p>\n<p>Direct to dvd: no residuals based on dvd sales. ever. This includes<br \/>\nALL the Disney movies that go straight to dvd.<\/p>\n<p>Soundtracks made up to 15,000 copies: NO NEW USE PAYMENT.<br \/>\nThese days, virtually no soundtrack sells that many. They are<br \/>\nlucky to sell 1000 copies.<\/p>\n<p>HBO or Showtime telefilms, or mini-series. When they go to dvd,<br \/>\nno re-use, and no residuals. Not many people know that.<\/p>\n<p>Music recorded for movies, re-used in trailers and advertising<br \/>\n(even for different movies): NO NEW-USE. ever. Forever. The<br \/>\ncomposer gets paid again, but not the musicians.<\/p>\n<p>Music licensed out to ringtones: no payment. Again, the writers<br \/>\nget residuals.<\/p>\n<p>Music recorded for a rock band or singer: if re-used in a non-<br \/>\nsignatory tv show or movie: No payment guaranteed, as they are<br \/>\nnot obliged to pay if they are not a signatory.<\/p>\n<p>Note that the top selling cd of 2007 was Josh Groban, recorded<br \/>\nwith the London Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n<p>here is a link, many Local 47 people involved.<\/p>\n<p>http:\/\/noted.blogs.com\/westcoastmusic\/2007\/12\/josh-groban-noe.html<\/p>\n<p>****So what is the big deal if there is a buyout. It just doesn&#8217;t<br \/>\nmatter. Work is work and unless LA gets its act together, Seattle and<br \/>\nEastern Europe, not to mention London, will be flush with work even<br \/>\nmore than they are now.<\/p>\n<p>Grow up people. If anyone from the AFM wants to contradict or correct<br \/>\nanything above, feel free.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>To begin with I think it would clarify things to stop using the phrase<br \/>\n &#8220;runaway production.&#8221; No one is running away. What&#8217;s happening is<br \/>\na function of marketplace mobility, period, and should be understood<br \/>\nthat way.<\/p>\n<p>Some claim that the DeCrescent\/Rodder team is the world&#8217;s best.<br \/>\nDoes it matter? I am going to say something now that is important<br \/>\nto understand: Markets don&#8217;t work on the basis of merit, they<br \/>\nwork on the basis of productivity. Markets are competitive by nature.<br \/>\nTo be a contender one must compete. Why would the marketplace<br \/>\nmake an exception for musicians and recording?<\/p>\n<p>No amount of collectivist or idealist thinking, e.g. unionism or<br \/>\n&#8220;let&#8217;s all get together for a common purpose,&#8221; will change the<br \/>\nfundamental reality: the mobility of the marketplace, which<br \/>\ninures to the benefit of the consumer, is the sovereign principle<br \/>\nof capitalism. Some musicians may believe that capitalism is<br \/>\nflawed or problematic &#8212; and maybe they&#8217;re right &#8212; but it is<br \/>\nnevertheless the economic system running the engines of global<br \/>\nmarkets today. And make no mistake: we live in a global marketplace.<\/p>\n<p>Entrepreneurial captalism functions through the mechanism of<br \/>\nindividuals making market decisions, not collectives making<br \/>\ncollective decisions. This creates problems for collectivist<br \/>\ninstitutions like unions. Restricting an individual&#8217;s discretion to<br \/>\nmake a market decision requires restricting his liberty to make<br \/>\nthat decision, and individuals will rarely give up that liberty<br \/>\ncompletely. The question is how much liberty will they give up to<br \/>\nthe collective? The answer may vary depending on many variables<br \/>\nincluding, obviously, one&#8217;s economic viability and one&#8217;s commitment<br \/>\nto the institution. It follows that market activity can and will<br \/>\nproduce tension between the interests of the collective and those<br \/>\nof the individual. Individual interests may be divergent from<br \/>\ninstitutional interests. This divergence sometimes leads to<br \/>\nhypocrisy if individual action in the marketplace is in conflict with<br \/>\na collectivist policy one purportedly supports, or when an institution<br \/>\npursues institutional interests which do not serve the interests of<br \/>\nindividual members. This dynamic is so common in a union context<br \/>\nit is often overlooked and is basically considered irreconcilable.To<br \/>\nbring this home: individuals understand that flexibility is a<br \/>\nnecessity. Flexibility is a larger problem at an institutional level.<br \/>\nThe global marketplace of today requires that our institutions<br \/>\nchange &#8212; if they are to survive. Either we help shape the future<br \/>\nor we will be shaped by it.<\/p>\n<p>In my opinion the union must allow more buyout options. There<br \/>\nhas to be a productivity incentive to record in LA. LA must<br \/>\ncompete. And we should forgo penalizing people for trying to<br \/>\nwork &#8212; that is a lose\/lose policy.<\/p>\n<p>Rick Blanc (please attach name)<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>VI.\tCONCERTS AND EVENTS<\/p>\n<p>USC JAZZ CONCERT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM KIM RICHMOND<\/p>\n<p>Dear fellow L.A. Musicians,<\/p>\n<p>I would like to invite you to a performance worth noting. As many<br \/>\nof you know, I teach part time as an adjunct instructor at USC<br \/>\n(instructing ensembles, teaching saxophone and composition),<br \/>\nand this semester I am conducting the USC premiere large jazz<br \/>\nensemble, the Thornton Jazz Orchestra. This coming Thursday<br \/>\nthe Thornton Jazz Orchestra, together with one of my student<br \/>\ncombos and one taught by Jacques Voyemant is doing a concert<br \/>\nat Ground Zero coffee house on the USC campus. I invite you to<br \/>\nattend.<\/p>\n<p>WHAT: Final Spring semester concert by the USC Thornton Jazz<br \/>\nOrchestra, the Kim Richmond student jazz combo, and the<br \/>\nJacques Voyemant student jazz combo.<br \/>\nWHEN: this Thursday, April 17, 7 PM (Voyemant group), 8:15<br \/>\n(Richmond combo), 9:30-10:30 (TJO)<br \/>\nWHERE: Ground Zero coffee house, USC campus<br \/>\nFeaturing: Combo arrangements by students, large ensemble<br \/>\ncompositions by Kim Richmond, Matt Rubin, Adam Bravo, Sam<br \/>\nGendel, Justin Morell, plus others<\/p>\n<p>COST: FREE concert, parking $8<br \/>\nAddress: 615 Child&#8217;s Way &#8211; Los Angeles, CA 90089.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>LOS ANGELES BAROQUE PLAYERS<br \/>\nfeaturing<br \/>\nAdriana Zoppo, Viola d\u2019Amore<\/p>\n<p>April 18 8pm and April 20 2:30 pm<br \/>\nTRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH<br \/>\n997 East Walnut St.                          655 North Bundy Dr.<br \/>\nPasadena                                                Brentwood<br \/>\nMusic by: Vivaldi, Marcello, Albrechtsberger Telemann, Milandre,<br \/>\n&#038; Anna Bon di Venezia<\/p>\n<p>Tickets $15\/$20<br \/>\nCall: (323) 254-9613<br \/>\nwww.harpsichordcenter.com<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>CONCERT ANNOUNCEMENT FROM COMPOSER DAN REDFELD<\/p>\n<p>Hey everyone, <\/p>\n<p>Just a reminder that on Sat., April 26th, at 8 pm, Ensemble Green<br \/>\n  will be premiering my new work, Vineyards, at the <\/p>\n<p>PASADENA CONSERVATORY OF MUSIC<br \/>\n100 North Hill Ave,<br \/>\nPasadena, CA 91106<br \/>\nTICKETS AND INFORMATION<br \/>\nwww.ensemblegreen.com or 1(323)2585161<\/p>\n<p>Tickets are $10 and $20.<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>IV. OTHER, MORE GENERAL COMMENTS<br \/>\nCONCERNING the LINK TO THE COMPLAINT AGAINST THE LOCAL<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;<\/p>\n<p>that link isn&#8217;t good anymore (at least at this moment)<br \/>\nI did a search on that website and this was what I got..<br \/>\nhttp:\/\/www.nrtw.org\/search\/node\/musicians+unions<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8211;<\/p>\n<p>I would like to bring attention to the fact that RMALA<br \/>\nhas not one link on their site connecting them with Local 47.<br \/>\nThere is no mention of Local 47 anywhere on their web site.<br \/>\nIt&#8217;s as if the other 6,000 union members don&#8217;t exist. Yet, Local<br \/>\n47&#8217;s web master found the time to put a &#8216;link&#8217; in with the Referal<br \/>\nService but did not reciprocate by putting a link for the Referral<br \/>\nService on the RMALA web site. This is the work of the RMALA<br \/>\ntop leadership, not the rank &#038; file member who is scared of<br \/>\nlosing their work as a result of political activism aka freedom of<br \/>\nspeech without fear of retaliation.  It is a perfect example of<br \/>\nRMALA aka PMG leadership demonstrating what a &#8220;kinder, gentler&#8221;<br \/>\nRMALA will be like in the future. RMALA wants to distance itself<br \/>\nfrom Local 47. They don&#8217;t even have meetings at Local 47 anymore.<br \/>\nIt is an organization that should be UNDER the jurisdiction of 47.<br \/>\n[Humorous though personal attacks on the RMA Webmaster<br \/>\nremoved]. I noticed that Local 47&#8217;s attorney Lou Levy is on the<br \/>\nAdvisory Board for RMALA. Given the state of politics at the union,<br \/>\nthat might be a slight conflict of interest. <\/p>\n<p>[Editor\u2019s Note: We\u2019ve gone to the RMA website and indeed we<br \/>\ncould find no link to Local 47 there. We did not go through every<br \/>\nsingle page but we dug deep enough to note that it was not easily<br \/>\nfound. While they do not have to mention anything having to do<br \/>\nwith non-rma members, we also think it untoward that there is<br \/>\nno mention or link anywhere on their site that we could find<br \/>\nlinking to Local 47. After all, the RMA would not exist if not for<br \/>\nthe Local. <\/p>\n<p>Concerning Mr. Levy: We too find it a conflict of interest for him<br \/>\nto serve on the advisory board of the RMA. Should there be a<br \/>\nconflict between these two organizations, where would his<br \/>\nloyalties lay. (Not a charge, just a question)]<\/p>\n<p>&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Dear Committee,<\/p>\n<p>For those who think that all of these letters are written by the<br \/>\n&#8216;Committee&#8217;, I would first like to state that I am NOT a member<br \/>\nof the &#8216;Committee&#8217;.  I am one of the thousands of readers that is<br \/>\ntired of the slander and accusations coming from our Local 47<br \/>\nboard and those sympathetic with their past and present behavior.<br \/>\nI am also stating that I am a Local 47 full-member in good<br \/>\nstanding and that I will NOT be providing my name &#8211; which again,<br \/>\ndoes not automatically make me a member of the &#8216;Committee&#8217;!<br \/>\nFor the benefit of those who selectively read these e-mails and<br \/>\nonly remember those comments that are offensive to them and<br \/>\nnot the rest; and for the benefit of Paul Castillo and those who<br \/>\nread his letter in the February 2008 issue of &#8216;Overture&#8217;, I am going<br \/>\nto explain why I and those who are members of the Committee<br \/>\nchoose to remain anonymous.  By the way, the Committee on<br \/>\nmore than one occasion has published its reasons for remaining<br \/>\nanonymous.<\/p>\n<p>The first place to start is to ask why the Committee exists.  My<br \/>\nunderstanding is that they exist as a response to what they and<br \/>\nthousands of Local 47 members feel are unfair policies, wasted<br \/>\ndues money, reduced services, and poor administration of union<br \/>\nbusiness by our board; and those who are operating unfair or<br \/>\npotentially illegal sub-organizations within our union.  Many<br \/>\nunion policies favor those who do well in this business and have<br \/>\npolitical influence in the union, while simultaneously disadvantaging<br \/>\nthe rank and file &#8211; I know &#8211; I&#8217;ve been to the meetings!   Second,<br \/>\none only needs to remember the nasty e-mails that have been<br \/>\nflowing from the President&#8217;s office &#8211; starting before he was re-<br \/>\nelected and continuing to this day &#8211; which attack members of the<br \/>\nCommittee personally, and have slandered opposing candidates<br \/>\nin elections.  I don&#8217;t need the Committee to publish that info &#8211; it<br \/>\ncame directly from the President&#8217;s office.  Third, I have also read<br \/>\nOverture articles and received e-mails from the board stating<br \/>\nthat Fi-Core or Beck Status musicians are union-busting scabs,<br \/>\nwhen the NLRB states this as a legal option for union musicians.<br \/>\nFor the board to attack Fi-Core musicians who are financing the<br \/>\nunion and paying their salaries (paying roughly 85% of their dues<br \/>\nas required by this status) goes way beyond their role as union<br \/>\nofficers.  I have heard numerous stories of contractors not hiring<br \/>\nFi-Core musicians in favor of full-membership musicians &#8211; an<br \/>\nillegal practice, as Fi-Core musicians are legally able to work<br \/>\nunion dates.  Fourth, we all know of the board&#8217;s attempt to chase<br \/>\nnon-union scoring sessions out of town and\/or prevent the<br \/>\nsessions from taking place.  They often publish the names of<br \/>\nthose they are attacking in e-mails and Overture columns,<br \/>\npotentially damaging their reputations in the process.<\/p>\n<p>With all of this intimidation and propaganda coming from our<br \/>\nunion officials, is it any wonder why the Committee or a reader<br \/>\nof their e-mails, knowing that union officials are reading them<br \/>\ntoo, wants to keep their identity hidden?  If you ask me, requiring<br \/>\nthe Committee or readers to provide their names would certainly<br \/>\njeopardize their reputation in union circles and their livelihood as<br \/>\nwell.  The Committee has actually provided an incentive for those<br \/>\nwho would otherwise remain silent about their concerns to come<br \/>\nforward without fear of attacks from union officials.<\/p>\n<p>Just my 2 cents,<\/p>\n<p>The Invisible Man&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>==========<\/p>\n<p>COLLEAGUES,<\/p>\n<p>Please don\u2019t forget the meeting this April 28th, 7pm at the Local.<br \/>\nWe\u2019ll be electing a new election board and someone to replace<br \/>\nMichael Grego as Trustee.<\/p>\n<p>You can only make a difference if you are there.<\/p>\n<p>THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>COMMITTEE: THE COMMENTS EDITION I. MORE THREATS FROM PRESIDENT ESPINOSA\/THE FINAL RESPONCE II. MEMBER COMMENTS CONCERNING ESPINOSA THREATS. III. RUNAWAY SCORING COMMENTS IV. CONCERTS AND EVENTS V. MORE GENERAL COMMENTS Colleagues, Firstly, please do not forget the Membership meeting Monday April 28th at 7pm! The RMA seems to be working hard to get their members [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-committee-newsletters"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}