4\/13\/18<\/p>\n
I. MPS RESPONSE TO AFM-EPF TRUSTEES
\nII. HELP THE MPS<\/p>\n
III. EVENTS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
…Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer\u2028\u2028’<\/p>\n
…The one voice of reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’\u2028scoring musician<\/p>\n
…Allows us to speak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician<\/p>\n
…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician<\/p>\n
=========================<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I. MUSICIANS FOR PENSION SECURITY MEETING RESPONSE<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
MPS Response to AFM-EPF Trustees<\/p>\n
Fellow Musicians,<\/p>\n
It only took 48 hours after the Musicians for Pension
\nSecurity national meeting on April 4th for the AFM-EPF
\nTrustees to reject each and every proposal we made,
\ncasually brushing aside months of careful work by
\nour team of experts. Rather than engaging in a dialogue
\nconcerning the positive and creative recommendations
\nwe made for lessening the impact of cuts to our pensions,
\ncutting expenses, or reforming the board, the Trustees
\nchose to question our motives and attack our all-volunteer
\norganization that works on behalf of fellow musicians
\nacross the country. Read the letter the trustees sent
\nto us on 4\/6 here.<\/p>\n
This is especially disappointing because at the national
\nmeeting MPS made clear its desire to work with the
\nTrustees to find solutions to our pension crisis. Prior
\nto the meeting MPS and its actuary Tom Lowman
\nmade direct offers to the Trustees, and AFM-EPF plan
\nactuary, Milliman, to meet and discuss our proposals.
\nThe Trustees did not respond. Again, at the meeting,
\nwe reached out to our Trustees and urged them to
\nengage with us. We wanted to represent the voice of
\nmusicians around the country and be part of the process
\nnow before any cuts are instituted. After all, it is our
\npension plan that is currently at risk.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, these honest overtures have been summarily
\nrejected. The Trustees have made it clear that they have
\nno intention of listening, engaging or taking input from MPS
\nor anyone else. Since December of 2016, when the Trustees
\nfirst told plan participants about the possibility of cuts, we
\nhave been held in suspense, waiting for a plan from the
\nTrustees. Unfortunately sixteen months later, our Trustees
\nstill have no plan for the future until we hit rock bottom.
\nThen, and only then, will the Trustees act, taking the easy
\nway out by pursuing cuts to our benefits.<\/p>\n
THE FACTS<\/p>\n
At the National Meeting MPS proposed a comprehensive
\nAction Plan that would stabilize the AFM-EPF for decades
\nto come. The Action Plan included a three-year delay of
\nbenefit cuts, negotiating 6% increase in employer contributions,
\nand a 10% cut in administrative expenses. We also called
\nfor board reform, including the replacement of five out of
\neight the trustees and bringing more financial investment
\nand actuarial expertise onto the board. Finally, we asked
\nthe Trustees to engage more meaningfully on the Butch
\nLewis Act in Washington DC.<\/p>\n
The Trustees\u2019 response to each of these proposals
\nwas to reject them out of hand. Here is a point by
\npoint response to the Trustee\u2019s misguided attack:<\/p>\n
Proposal For a Three-year\u00a0Delay in Cuts<\/p>\n
Trustees: Plan for a three-year delay in benefit cuts
\nis \u201cbased on a distortion of facts\u201c and is \u201cjust empty
\nrhetoric.\u201d<\/p>\n
MPS: The three-year delay was based on financial
\nmodeling done by one of the foremost actuaries in
\nthe multiemployer pension field, Tom Lowman. Mr.
\nLowman believes a three-year delay is possible if
\nthe Union leaders can obtain 6% contribution increases
\nand a 10% cut in expenses. In support, Mr. Lowman
\ncited numerous instances where pension plans in
\ntrouble obtained 6% increases in employer contributions
\nfor multiple years. These included the Baltimore
\nTeamsters and the Central States Teamsters fund.
\nHe also cited the fact that the AFM-EPF itself obtained
\n6% increases in employer contributions for multiple
\nyears in the middle part of the last decade.<\/p>\n
The Trustees do not even attempt to address
\nthis extensive factual record.<\/p>\n
History of Mismanagement<\/p>\n
Trustees: \u201cSince the 2008 global financial recession,
\nthe Trustees have consistently taken action to
\npreserve the Fund.\u201d<\/p>\n
MPS: The Trustees have produced the worst investment
\nreturns in their peer group of large pension plans, have
\nthe highest expenses of any fund in the entertainment
\nindustry, and cannot raise employer contributions even
\nto the rate of wage inflation. We have written a piece
\nentitled \u201cA Track Record of Mismanagement\u201d that you
\ncan access here to view our detailed analysis of the
\nTrustees\u2019 self-serving and misleading claims on their
\nperformance. There is now overwhelming evidence
\nthat this pension plan has been badly mismanaged.
\nThe Trustees\u2019 refusal to take even an iota of responsibility
\nfor that fact is alarming.<\/p>\n
Assumptions Concerning Growth in Employer
\nContributions<\/p>\n
Trustees: \u00a0Getting employers to contribute more
\nis \u201ccomplicated.\u201d The AFM-EPF is assuming that
\nemployer contributions will grow 2.5% per year,
\nand this is \u201cbased on historic averages.\u201d Any claim
\nthat the growth in employer contributions should
\nbe set higher \u201cshows lack of understanding of
\nour industry or the Fund\u2019s actual experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
MPS: Tom Lowman does not lack understanding
\nof the situation. He explained his reasoning on
\nthis point quite clearly. First, the AFM-EPF has
\nitself obtained much higher employer contributions
\nthan 2.5% in the past. Second, the current rate of
\nwage inflation is 2.9% and as Tom said, any
\npension plan that assumes its rate of increases
\nin employer contributions is less than wage
\ninflation is probably making an erroneous assumption.<\/p>\n
Expense Discipline<\/p>\n
Trustees: \u201cMPS’ own actuary stated clearly that
\nexpenses were not the issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
MPS: Tom Lowman said nothing of the kind.
\nHis model clearly calls for 10% expense cuts,
\nand a three-year delay in cuts would not be
\nachievable without them. MPS legal counsel
\nJonathan Kantor stated at the meeting that
\nwithout meaningful expense cuts, the Trustees
\nmight not be able to clear the key MPRA
\nhurdle at U.S. Treasury of taking \u201call reasonable
\nmeasures\u201d to avoid insolvency. The Trustees\u2019
\nrenewed claims that they have exercised
\nexpense discipline is demonstrably false.
\nTheir own projection calls for 2.25% increases
\nin expenses over the next 20 years, with
\nno cuts in sight. See our accompanying piece,
\n\u201cA Track Record of Mismanagement,\u201d for
\ndetails on the Trustees\u2019 abysmal record on
\nexpenses here.<\/p>\n
Board Reform<\/p>\n
The Trustees simply failed to address this
\nimportant issue, even though it is an essential
\nelement of our Action Plan, and one that
\nreceived an enthusiastic response at the
\nNational Meeting.<\/p>\n
At the meeting, we pointed out that the Trustees
\nwe have been serving for a long time \u2013 some
\nof them for decades. We also pointed out that
\nthey severely mismanaged this Plan to the
\nbrink of disaster. Even if they get the cuts that
\nthey are looking for, there is nothing to prevent
\nthem from going for more cuts in the next 5
\nto 10 years. The only way to prevent this from
\nhappening is to bring onto the board competent,
\nexperienced and accountable Trustees who
\nare experts in their fields, particularly the
\ninvestment and the actuarial fields.<\/p>\n
Legislative Engagement<\/p>\n
Even in their recent piece, it\u2019s clear that the
\nTrustees have left themselves plenty of room
\nto back away from the Butch Lewis Act. \u201cThe
\ntrustees will strongly advocate to [the select
\ncommittee] for a remedy that fully addresses
\nthe financial issues facing our fund while
\ntreating our participants fairly.\u201d That could
\nwell include the proposal of the NCCMP,
\nwhich is the lobbying organization which is
\nclosely aligned with our Trustees. NCCMP
\nhas been advocating forcefully against the
\napplication of the Butch Lewis Act to plans
\nlike ours. They have also been advocating
\nchanges to MPRA that would make it easier
\nfor plan sponsors to get cuts to pension
\nbenefits. Details on this can be found in
\nthe attached piece, \u201cA Track Record of
\nIncompetence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Transparency<\/p>\n
Trustees: \u201cMPS\u2019 propaganda and smear
\ntactics are detrimental to the Union\u2019s ability
\nto get members behind negotiating increases
\nto contributions\u2026.We will continue to provide
\nthe participants with accurate information,
\nnot political spin.\u201d<\/p>\n
MPS: It appears the Trustees have adopted
\na popular method of response to constituents
\ndemanding accountability that is widely used
\nin politics today: When faced with fact-based
\nand solid criticism, they claim to be \u201cattacked\u201d
\nand call the truth a \u201cfantasy.\u201d We deserve better
\nleadership. We deserve leadership that holds
\nthe democratic process as sacred and does
\nnot denigrate its members for having an open
\ndiscourse about the possibility of speaking
\nwith our vote on this issue. They could have
\nan open discussion with us but they hide
\nbehind Hart Associates. They could have
\nface to face meetings but they use webinars
\nwhere they control the message. They claim
\nthat this is politics when no member of MPS
\nhas ever held nor ran for an AFM office. As
\nlong time, dues-paying members, we deserve
\na responsive and respectful discourse from
\nour elected leaders. We did not get that in
\nFriday night\u2019s letter nor at any moment
\nsince we started a year ago.<\/p>\n
The Trustees\u2019 Plans<\/p>\n
Trustees: \u201cTrustees are also planning for
\nthe future and are currently considering
\nmany options.\u201d<\/p>\n
MPS: That is deliberately vague. MPS
\nhas obtained documents from AFM-EPF
\nfiles showing that the Trustees are in
\nadvanced stages of planning for cuts
\nto our pensions. They have even had
\na series of discussions with the staff
\nof the U.S. Treasury about the best
\nway to frame their cut application.
\nThey have extensively modeled cuts
\nin the 23-30% range, and this has
\nbeen going on since late 2015. The
\nTrustees have set compassion and
\nempathy aside for retirees who could
\nlose their homes or have a significantly
\nreduced quality of life by saying \u201cwe
\nsimply don\u2019t know\u201d when continually
\nasked, \u201cwhat is the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fellow musicians – we deserve better than this.<\/p>\n
There is a clear absence of leadership
\nat the AFM-EPF. Ray Hair, Tino
\nGagaliardi and the other trustees\u2019 only
\nplan is to wait for our fund to hit rock
\nbottom, then and only then they will
\nfinally act and cut benefits taking the
\neasy way out. \u00a0It is now clear that while
\nthe Trustees wait for us to hit rock
\nbottom the only other thing they will
\ndo is attack anyone trying to propose
\nproactive solutions or asking for a basic
\nlevel of accountability. \u00a0While the
\nTrustees try to attack their way out
\nof the problem they created, Musicians
\nfor Pension Security will continue to
\nlook for solutions and find a way
\nforward on behalf of fellow musicians
\nacross the country.<\/p>\n
In order to continue working on your
\nbehalf, we need your help. \u00a0We will
\nbe starting our spring fundraising
\ndrive later this week. Please donate
\nwhat you can.<\/p>\n
In solidarity,
\nMPS<\/p>\n
Send a check or money order payable
\nto Musicians for Pension Security, Inc to:<\/p>\n
Musicians for Pension Security
\n45-06 Queens Blvd.
\nSuite 202
\nSunnyside, NY 11104<\/p>\n
Please help spread the word! Click
\nbelow to share on Facebook and
\nTwitter. We must work together to
\nsave our pension .<\/p>\n
[Colleagues, Did you really expect anything
\ndifferent? These folks are only out for themselves,
\ntheir own profit, and seemingly the perfect folks
\nfor the Trump Era.<\/p>\n
We wish MPS the best of Luck, but expect
\nnothing from the trustees and their Lackeys
\nat the AFM (or the other way around.)
\nWe’re sure they already know exactly what
\nthey’re going to do.<\/p>\n
We’ve also been told a fake email account was
\ncreated the day before the meeting to trash
\nwhatever the MPS said… They are predictable
\nif nothing else.]<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
=================================<\/p>\n
II. HELP THE MPS<\/p>\n
Thanks for a Great Meeting Now MPS
\nNeeds Your Help! Please Donate<\/p>\n
Musicians For Pension Security celebrated its
\nfirst anniversary with a highly successful
\nnationwide meeting on April 4th. MPS thanks
\nall of our fellow musicians who participated in
\nthe meeting, both in NYC and watching across
\nthe country via Facebook Live.<\/p>\n
Assisted by the expert advice of nationally
\nrecognized actuary Tom Lowman and legal
\ncounsel Jonathan Kantor, we presented the
\nMPS Action Plan: A three-part approach,
\ndetailing ideas and reforms that will make
\nsignificant improvements to the fund. If you
\nmissed the MPS National Meeting or want
\nto watch again from home, you can see the
\ncomplete videos and power point presentations
\nof the meeting here. A summary of the MPS
\nAction Plan is here.<\/p>\n
MPS 2018 Fundraising Drive<\/p>\n
Last summer we asked for your help and you
\noverwhelmingly responded to our fundraiser.
\nWe reached our $15,000 goal in less than
\ntwo weeks thanks to your quick action and
\ngenerosity. That allowed us to hire one of
\nthe country’s leading actuaries Tom Lowman.
\nThe MPS team now has a viable Action Plan
\nthanks to our experts. This spring, MPS once
\nagain needs your help to advocate for that
\nplan and many other initiatives in the coming
\nmonths.<\/p>\n
MPS needs\u00a0to raise $15,000
\nby June 1st.<\/p>\n
2018 is a crucial\u00a0year. Your donations will go
\na long way in helping to secure a more certain
\nfuture for our pension fund. As You know, we
\nare an all-volunteer organization working on
\nbehalf of fellow musicians across the country.
\nEvery single dollar donated to MPS goes
\ndirectly to protecting our pension.<\/p>\n
Upcoming expenses include:
\n\u2022 Extending MPS actuary Tom Lowman’s
\ncontract which expires shortly
\n\u2022 New document purchases from AFM-EPF
\n\u2022 MPS operating expenses
\n\u2022 Budget for future MPS meetings<\/p>\n
Help us keep the MPS team together. Help us
\npush for the MPS Action Plan. Help us protect
\nthe pension fund. Donate what you can today!
\nAnd thank you!
\nClick the button below to donate.<\/p>\n
Send a check or money order payable to
\nMusicians for Pension Security, Inc to:<\/p>\n
Musicians for Pension Security
\n45-06 Queens Blvd.
\nSuite 202
\nSunnyside, NY 11104
\nPlease help spread the word! Click below
\nto share on Facebook,\u00a0Twitter or forward
\nthis email. We must work together to save
\nour pension!<\/p>\n
\ufffc
\n================================<\/p>\n
III. EVENTS<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
DEAN AND RICHARD \u2028are now at<\/p>\n
Culver City Elks the first \u2028Friday of \u2028every month.<\/p>\n
7:30pm-10:30pm,<\/p>\n
11160 Washington Pl.<\/p>\n
Culver City, 90232<\/p>\n
310-839-8891<\/p>\n
—————————————-<\/p>\n
4\/20\/18<\/p>\n
Sanford Hinderlie and Tom van der Geld in concert!
\nFriday, April 20, 7:30 p.m
\nLouis J. Roussel Performance Hall
\nLoyola\u2019s main campus
\nAdmission is free<\/p>\n
Coming back to New Orleans after several<\/p>\n
concerts in Europe this year Sanford Hinderlie and<\/p>\n
Tom van der Geld perform a jazz duo concert for piano<\/p>\n
and vibraphone. Tom and Sandy are performing<\/p>\n
original compositions, both new and from the 40+<\/p>\n
years each has contributed to the world of jazz. This<\/p>\n
concert is sponsored in part by the State of Louisiana<\/p>\n
Board of Regents Support Funds for Louisiana<\/p>\n
Artists and Scholars (ATLAS)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
—————————-<\/p>\n
4\/27\/18<\/p>\n
STARS OF THE WESTLAKE VILLAGE SYMPHONY<\/p>\n
WVS Presents: Soloists and Stars of the Westlake Village
\nSymphony, a concert of symphonic favorites featuring
\nsoloists from within the orchestra!<\/p>\n
WVS principal cellist John Fare, principal flutist
\nRhondda Dayton, and assistant conductor Laura
\nAsenas (along with some special guests) all make
\nspotlight appearances on<\/p>\n
Friday, April 27th at 7:30 PM at
\nSt Rose of Lima Catholic Church in Simi.<\/p>\n
Reserve your seats today by emailing
\ntickets@westlakevillagesymphony.com<\/p>\n
General Admission – $5<\/p>\n
Date: Friday, April 27, 2018<\/p>\n
Time: 7:30 pm<\/p>\n
Location: St Rose of Lima Catholic Church
\n1305 Royal Ave, Simi Valley, CA 93065<\/p>\n
Program:
\nCarmen Suite No. 1, Georges Bizet
\n“O Mio Babbino Caro” from Gianni Schicci, Giacomo Puccini
\n“On My Own” from Les Miserables, Claude-Michel Sch\u00f6nberg
\nSymphony No. 8 “Unfinished”, Franz Schubert
\n—-
\n“California Places” for Flute and Orchestra, Terry Minogue
\nCello Concerto in B minor, Anton\u00edn Dvo\u0159\u00e1k
\n“Sous le d\u00f4me \u00e9pais” from Lakm\u00e9, L\u00e9o Delibes<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
—————————<\/p>\n
The Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program<\/p>\n
at the Seattle Film Institute
\nis now accepting applications for the one-year
\nMaster of Music in Film Composition
\nOne of the Top 4 Film Music Programs in the World!
\nRecently rated as the #4 school in the world for film
\nscoring education by\u00a0Music School Central.
\n“in just one year, the school places students into a
\npressure cooker of intense learning resulting in a
\nprofessional demo reel that can be used to obtain
\nfuture paid commercial opportunities.”<\/p>\n
Learn from Industry Professionals
\nAll PNWFS faculty are active professional film and
\ngame composers, orchestrators, copyists, and
\nengineers, including the program’s creator and
\nlead instructor Dr.\u00a0Hummie Mann. \u00a0Hummie is the
\ntwo-time Emmy Award winning film composer of
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\nVariety Magazine’s article\u00a0“Leaders in Learning”.
\nOur Program Features:\u2028\u2022 9 live recording sessions with professional
\nmusicians at Studio X, Seattle’s premiere, world-class studio.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Opportunities to work with student directors
\nto score actual films from film programs all
\nover the world.\u2028\u2022 Training in all major software programs used
\nin the industry.\u2028\u2022 A state-of-the-art workstation assigned to
\neach student fully installed with the latest versions
\nof all software, sample libraries and plug-ins needed<\/p>\n
to complete the program.<\/p>\n
Accelerated and Affordable
\nWe are a one-year Master of Music in Film
\nComposition program which not only gives our
\ngraduates the opportunity to enter the industry
\nand start their careers a year sooner than other
\nprograms but saves them an entire year of living
\nexpenses. In addition to our accelerated format
\nwe also offer the most affordable tuition out of
\ncompeting programs. Our students have access
\nto FAFSA financial assistance, loans, and
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History of Success
\nWe are very proud to have a high success rate
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\ntelevision shows such as Castle, Empire, and Once
\nUpon a Time; video games such as World of Warcraft,
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\nTrolls, The Dark Tower, and Guardians of the Galaxy
\nVol. 2.\u00a0Apply now\u00a0and you could be joining their ranks!
\nApplications are being accepted for the Fall 2018
\nschool year.
\nWe offer rolling admissions – no deadline to apply.<\/p>\n
(800) 882-4734 | www.pnwfilmmusic.com<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
——————————————–<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
UNTIL NEXT TIME,\u2028\u2028THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
4\/13\/18 I. MPS RESPONSE TO AFM-EPF TRUSTEES II. HELP THE MPS III. EVENTS …Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer\u2028\u2028’ …The one voice of reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’\u2028scoring musician …Allows us to speak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician …Reporting issues the Musicians […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779","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=779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/779\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}