January 28, 2006<\/p>\n
Greetings Local 47 Colleagues,
\n Lot\u2019s to cover this time and lots to get worked up about our Local!<\/p>\n
I.\tAnother non-meeting with a side of arrogance.
\n(Board votes to keep quorum at 100 the following day)
\nII.\tA Poem commemorating the auspicious evening.
\nIII.\tMembers rebuttal letter is refused for Overture printing.
\nIV.\tReminder of Ewart Family blood drive on February 7th at the Union<\/p>\n
I.
\nBravo to the 83-86 Members who took the time to show up for
\nthe once again NON-Meeting last Monday at the Local. Needless
\nto say there were some very upset members at the gathering,
\nmembers who made their displeasure known in a very vocal way,
\nespecially when President Espinoza declared the meeting adjourned
\nat 7:10pm. A former member of the Local 47 board said they
\nnever remembered a meeting being adjourned so quickly before.
\nNo one on the committee ever remembered a meeting being
\nadjourned so quickly either, but there it was. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
There was a bit more tangible arrogance in the officers this time,
\nin the opinion of some of the members of the committee, but
\ngetting so close to a quorum obviously made the titled officers
\nnervous, considering how quickly President Espinoza adjourned it.<\/p>\n
Predictably, at the Board meeting the next day, having the chance
\nto do the right thing, they kept the quorum at 100. They had a
\nchance to decide between the voice of the membership and their
\nown power and they made the obvious choice, albeit the
\nregrettable one. <\/p>\n
Once again there argument was, \u201cWe can\u2019t have 34 people
\ndeciding for the whole membership.\u201d, yet they have no problem
\nwith 8 people doing so. UNITARY BOARD ANYONE?<\/p>\n
Many of the comments we want to make are actually made quite
\nwell in a delightful (and anonymous-even to us!) poem one of
\nour colleagues was moved to compose and send less than a
\nweek after the aborted meeting. These few lines speak volumes:<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
II.
\nPoor Hal. Doesn\u2019t have a pal.
\nYelling \u201cNo meeting \u2013 go home!\u201d
\nDoesn\u2019t boost morale.
\nWas what\u2019s on people\u2019s minds
\nToo painful or unkind?
\nOr maybe he had a better place to be,
\nLike a gig with the VP in the OC.
\nFutile to speculate, I guess,
\nAlthough I\u2019ve heard the rumors, I confess.
\nMaybe business the old fashioned way
\nReally should be the order of the day..
\nWhat\u2019s wrong with a nod and a wink?
\nAnd for those who may think
\nOur leader can\u2019t turn a phrase,
\nAt 7:10 pm his voice he did raise.
\nAs the crowd\u2019s jeers he tried to drown,
\nHe ultimately did not let us down:
\n\u201cThere\u2019s no reason to shout!
\nIf you don\u2019t like us, vote us out!\u201d
\nA stirring sentiment to be sure,
\nEven though the audience was demure.
\nBut will the members remember
\nThat catchy phrase come yon December?<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
Bravo (or Brava) to the anonymous poet! It caught a good deal of
\nthe absurdity of that night. We hope the membership does
\nremember this poem at the next election.<\/p>\n
Upon discussion between the committee members, we realized
\nthat the only other meeting with as much frustration and anger
\nwas the \u201cLet\u2019s Trash Tom Lee\u201d Evening. There were a lot of angry
\nmembers there, and the flippant perceived treatment of the
\nmembership last Monday night will win no converts for the
\npresent administration. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s now over a year since our last meeting, solely because of the
\nchange in the Quorum. The last time the quorum was over 50 we
\ndidn\u2019t have a meeting for 2 years! Are they trying to beat the
\nrecord? We do not pay our dues to have a
\nUNITARY EXECUTIVE BOARD. The members deserve a voice!<\/p>\n
There were many groups rehearsing that night, one of which was
\nthe Downey Symphony. We cannot count on our meeting nights
\nbeing free from scheduling conflicts, but Member Marcy Vaj
\nmade a great point when she suggested each person there take
\nthe responsibility to bring at least one other with them at the
\nnext meeting.<\/p>\n
We would like to go further and ask each member who took the
\ntime and effort to come down Monday night to bring 3 people
\nwith them to the next meeting. The frustration of this
\nmembership with the present administration is festering badly.<\/p>\n
Also, on the night of the meeting PLEASE make sure you\u2019re there
\nat or before 7pm. Hal could decide to call it at 7:05 next time!<\/p>\n
III. In another sign of the disregard of this Local for the
\nmembership, Member Charles Fernandez tells us that the Local
\nhas refused to print his rebuttal to the distortions and mistruths
\nin the three letters of reaction to his letter in the December Overture.<\/p>\n
When his letter was not printed in the January issue, he wrote an
\ne-mail to Serena, which he never received a reply to. On the
\nevening of the faux-meeting, he asked Serena directly if the
\nletter refuting the falsehoods written about him would be
\nprinted, he was told that it would not be printed and they
\nconsidered the matter closed.<\/p>\n
Here is the letter he has just sent to the Secretary and the board
\nasking for a written explanation of exactly why his letter was not printed:<\/p>\n
To the Executive Board % Serena as Secretary\/Treasurer 1\/26\/06<\/p>\n
From:
\nCharles Fernandez
\nMember Local 47 since 1983<\/p>\n
To the Board,<\/p>\n
On or around December 5th I sent a rebuttal letter to confront
\nthe distortions and mistruths contained primarily in one of the
\nthree letters printed to refute my initial letter. That initial letter
\nwas held for two months before being printing in the December
\nissue of the Overture.<\/p>\n
When I received my January Overture, the letter had not been
\nincluded. I sent an e-mail to Serena asking whether or not it
\nwould be printed and never received a reply. At the aborted
\nMembership meeting Monday Night I asked her directly and she
\ntold me it would not be printed and they considered the matter
\nclosed. Since the letters contained outright distortions and
\nfabrications I most certainly do not consider the matter closed.
\nI do not intend to allow Serena or anyone else at the Local to
\nleave those mistruths unanswered, and expect the same
\nplatform to answer them as was used to make them.<\/p>\n
Should anyone on the Board doubt that the mistruths were
\nprinted, please compare my initial letter to the 2nd of the three
\nrebuttal letters contained in the December Issue of the Overture.<\/p>\n
Article V, Section 4 (i)reads: The Secretary Shall<\/p>\n
(i) serve as the editor of Overture, subject to the direction of the
\nExecutive Board, with the right to censor material submitted,
\nthe publication of which might constitute a violation of Federal
\nlaw or might involve the Local or any member thereof in
\nlitigation or bring either into disrepute;<\/p>\n
As you can see, my rebuttal letter below does not fall under
\neither of the two only justifications for not printing a members\u2019
\nletter.<\/p>\n
I am hereby asking for a written explanation of exactly why the
\nletter was not printed and who exactly decided not to print it.
\nFurther, I would like to know if it the practice of this Local or the
\nBoard of this Local to inhibit a members\u2019 right to answer
\nmistruths printed in its own publication. <\/p>\n
It took three months before the Board was informed about the
\ndebacle with the Rachmaninov orchestra. To prevent such a
\ndelay here, I am sending a copy of this e-mail directly to each
\nboard member, in case some of them are unaware of the
\ncensorship taking place on the part of the Secretary, Executive
\nBoard, and\/or the Titled Officers.<\/p>\n
Below I have included the rebuttal letter in case any of the board
\nmembers haven’t seen it.<\/p>\n
Thank you for your immediate attention to this situation.<\/p>\n
In Solidarity,<\/p>\n
Charles Fernandez<\/p>\n
Dear Serena,<\/p>\n
Greetings! Here is a one-time rebuttal for the \u201cletter to the editor\u201d
\n to the myriad letters of response in the last edition. I trust this
\nwill not have to be held up to be run by Mr. Levy before hand?
\nI promise it won\u2019t be a monthly thing\u2026<\/p>\n
Thank you for your attention.<\/p>\n
To the Editor, Word count 400<\/p>\n
I wish to thank Serena for including my letter and the rebuttals
\nin the same issue, if for no other reason, easy reference. I now
\npartially know why its publication was delayed two months.<\/p>\n
I stand by every word of the letter submitted. My sources are
\nnamed where pertinent and our conversations related truthfully. I
\nwent out of my way to say that the Scholarship debacle in no way
\nreflected on the ability or talent of Nicholas. It\u2019s a shame he took
\nit as a personal attack, it was not. <\/p>\n
Mr. Caine intimates that \u201cwe\u201d actually means \u201cme\u201d. In fact, no less
\n than six members approached me about the Scholarship, with
\nmore since. They felt they couldn\u2019t speak up since they make
\ntheir living playing jobs, and feared retribution. I have decided I
\nam willing to speak out about members\u2019 concerns, both on my
\nown behalf and theirs. <\/p>\n
Further in his letter, Mr. Caine says I mischaracterized my
\nconversation with Dyan from the Overture, another predictable
\nfiction to muddy the picture. I don\u2019t even mention Dyan’s name
\nin the letter. Since the Overture made a mistake (\u201cFell through
\nthe cracks\u201d were her words), not a conscious decision, I saw no
\npoint to naming Dyan. Nor would it reflect on Dyan if I had. <\/p>\n
Mr. Caine also infers that I am impugning the integrity of the
\nOffice in New York. My only mention of New York is my
\nconversation with Ms. Jacobson, wherein she says, \u201cThe Local
\nsubmits the name of the person they believe most deserves the
\nscholarship\u201d. The Local submits the name, not the international.
\nMy issue is with the Local and the sorry job they do of informing
\nmembers of opportunities. We\u2019re among the largest Locals in the
\nFederation. If anyone should go overboard with notifications it
\nshould be we! That is one of my main points. Having only three
\napply in 11 years should be taken as a personal failure of the
\nlocal. We should have numerous applicants every year.<\/p>\n
If space permitted I would go through Mr. Caine\u2019s letter point by
\npoint, but the fictions are too numerous, by design I imagine,
\nand my 400 words are up. <\/p>\n
Pro or Con, speak up folks! Don\u2019t complain that the Union does
\nnothing for you if you don\u2019t stand up and be counted. Be at the
\n January 23rd meeting!<\/p>\n
In Solidarity,<\/p>\n
Charles Fernandez<\/p>\n
P.S.- Serena, if you should feel that the last sentence, \u201cBe at the
\nJanuary 23rd meeting!\u201d, makes it too political, please feel free to
\nedit that one sentence out.<\/p>\n
\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
If you can, please come out for this important event to support a
\ncolleague in need!<\/p>\n
The Musicians Union, Local 47 – DAVID EWART FAMILY BLOOD DRIVE<\/p>\n
TUESDAY FEBRUARY 7, 2006
\n10:00 AM to 5:00 PM<\/p>\n
Professional Musicians Local 47 Auditorium
\n817 Vine Street
\nHollywood, California<\/p>\n
Sign Up:
\nCall: 323-993-3159
\nE-Mail: benefits@promusic47.org<\/p>\n
The Providence Blood Donor Center will provide everything, right
\ndown to juice & cookies. And every donor will receive a coupon
\nfor a free pint of ice cream from Baskin Robbins. <\/p>\n
In a terrible accident, on Christmas Eve night, their house caught
\non fire from a fault in the Christmas tree wiring. Several family
\nmembers were badly burned, including Dave, his son, his mother,
\nhis father, and others. Several are currently in the Sherman Oaks
\nBurn Center.<\/p>\n
The Official Ewart Family Update Website
\nhttp:\/\/geocities.com\/fmabbott@sbcglobal.net\/<\/p>\n
IMPORTANT!: <\/p>\n
If you\u2019re not sure whether you\u2019re eligible to donate blood,
\nplease check at this site for information.<\/p>\n
tp:\/\/www.redcross.org\/services\/biomed\/0,1082,0_557_,00.html<\/p>\n
Two wide ranging restrictions not listed on the page:
\nIf you have visited the UK for 3 months cumulatively between
\nDecember, 1980 to 1996 you cannot give blood.<\/p>\n
Or if you have been to Europe for 5 years cumulatively in the
\nperiod between 1980-present, you cannot donate.
\n\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n
That\u2019s all for now, but we have a lot of work to do. When
\nsomething the Local does upsets you, Write to them, let them
\nknow. Write to the Overture! Write to the Officers.<\/p>\n
For now, we\u2019re looking to expanding the number of people on
\nour list. If you know of anyone who does not receive our
\npostings, please let us know!<\/p>\n
We also want to know what YOU want to talk about. We\u2019ve
\nrecently been asked to talk about the Health Insurance situation
\nbetween the Local and Motion Picture Plan and how it could be improved. We\u2019ve also been asked
\nto explain exactly what CORE STATUS is. We\u2019ll certainly look for
\nyour questions and feedback.<\/p>\n
Together we can make the Local better.<\/p>\n
Until next time.<\/p>\n
THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
January 28, 2006 Greetings Local 47 Colleagues, Lot\u2019s to cover this time and lots to get worked up about our Local! I. Another non-meeting with a side of arrogance. (Board votes to keep quorum at 100 the following day) II. A Poem commemorating the auspicious evening. III. Members rebuttal letter is refused for Overture printing. […]<\/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-89","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\/89","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=89"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=89"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=89"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.responsible47.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}