Greetings Local 47 Colleagues!,
We’ve gotten many thoughtful comments about the July 24th meeting from our brothers and sisters.
If you have anything to say, pro or con, we want to hear it and share it with the rest of the list. OPEN communication is vitally important for a healthy organization. So is accountability, so keep coming to the meetings and taking action!
We will have more to say at the end of the members’ comments.
MEMBER COMMENTS:
Those of you at the GM meeting witnessed attempts by some of the EB
members to absolve themselves of any responsibility concerning the
former General Manager. Well, here’s what §VI-9 of the Local 47
Bylaws has to say about it:
“Section 9. Appointments: The Executive Board shall appoint all
standing committees. It shall also appoint from the membership of
the Local all supervisory employees—including Business
Representatives, Presidential Assistants, and Departmental
Administrators—based on the recommendation of the Titled Officer
entrusted with the administration of the Department(s) in which each
such employee works. It shall establish compensation for and
exercise general direction over the duties of its appointees. The
services of all appointed supervisory employees shall be at the
disposal of the Local at all times, subject to reasonable allowance
for vacations, illnesses, emergencies, and personal obligations.
They shall not accept or perform any competitive musical engagements
coming under the jurisdiction of the Local (including electronic
media engagements) nor engage in any other public musical activities
without the explicit prior approval of the Executive Board.”
You be the judge.
“They doth protest too much, methinks.”
——
The division in our Union is clear and obvious. The officers and board members react as if Charles Fernandez did a bad thing. The officers don’t want to reimburse Mr. Fernandez, the board members seem indignant that any body trying to get to the bottom of things would have the gall to investigate them. Why is the board so offended by Mr. Fernandez actions but seemingly not offended by the presence of a convicted felon doing hatchet work in our Union? Why is Mr. Espinoza speaking so forgivingly about a guy who used Mr. Espinoza’s name and account to do these things? It would appear that the officers and board still support what the former office manager was up to and are unhappy about the way things went.
I was also bothered by Mr. Trombetta’s characterization that only 5% of the work dues come from live performances, leaving the L.A. Phil and others out of that category. I wonder what the percentage of membership dues are paid by live performing musicians. In short, it seems clear to that the union officials are interested in serving the recording elite but not interested in serving the average member. When is the next meeting?
[The next membership meeting is in late September]
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At the recent membership meeting Vice President Trombetta publicly called into question the motives and character of a member-in-good-standing, and was immediately booed into silence by the shocked members present. As a Local 47 officer he must be accountable for his actions and statements.
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At the July General Membership meeting V.P. Trombetta alleged that Local 47 Brother Charles Fernandez somehow plotted and conspired to have the meeting quorum restored to 50 so that he could get the membership to vote to reimburse him for his investigation into the imposter email account at the July meeting. Frankly, I find Trombetta’s comments not only absurd, but also appalling, and unbecoming of a Union Officer. If the Local 47 Vice President has charges to make then he should file them in accordance with the Bylaws of our local. To do otherwise, as he has done, is to deny due process to the membership. Since he is also chair of Local 47’s Legislative Committee, and should be intimately familiar with the Local’s Bylaws and other applicable law, one can only surmise that his comments represent an egregious contempt not only for the Bylaws, but also for the requirements set forth in FEDERAL labor law.
——
I actually said that I felt Espinosa was behind the emails to begin
with – after all, shouldn’t the Manager to the President and the
President be connected??? Makes sense to me! Is that why Hal didn’t
stay after the Totusek memorial to mingle with the group afterwards???
Sorry I wasn’t at the meeting – I had to teach! Good job everyone,
——
re; Local 47 membership meeting.
It seems to me that the officers of this union are in self preservation
mode. Everything they do is to maintain the status quo, not move
forward. I believe we need some new blood running this union. We need
fresh ideas to find a way for us all to prosper in an ever changing
business. We’ve had the same officers for quite some time now and I’m
not satisfied with the results.
As far as the impostor email account is concerned, David Schubach made
a very good point. As soon as it was discovered that Hal Espinosa’s
credit card was used to create the account, an impartial independent
3rd party should have conducted the investigation. I thought it was
awfully convenient that all of the blame was placed on one person who
had already been dismissed and wasn’t there.
——-
If it weren’t for the committee those cockroaches would still be breeding
ways to dismantle and destroy the local.
My G-d! The thought that they would even try to blame this on the committee just
shows you how insidious they are and how far they have to come before
anything even comes close to being transparent.
There is still house cleaning to be done. Call the exterminator.
Bravo for a job well done. Bravo for making a Difference!
—–
[[At one point in the meeting, VP Trombetta tried to spin a tale of
conspiracy, as though the COMMITTEE and/or Brother Fernandez
had somehow engineered the creation of the imposter email and
everything that followed. It was surreal and laughable, though
some of the members took great offense at the absurdity of the
“suppositions”, and felt quite insulted by the implication. It was
certainly a desperate attempt at deflection, but actually quite
amusing!]]
That was me that yelled out “unacceptable” during the meeting ….that was so wrong..it was way out
of line…and just ridiculous..and if i got kicked out of the meeting for it…it would have been worth
it……..then i think i should have just let him continue talking so he would continue to making a fool
of himself………
charles….thank you so much for what you have done…..i don’t think if you had gone to the board
they would have listened or taken action..or they would have taken there good old time…although i
did get a nice impression of the some of the board members………nobody listened when we all knew
from the start that something was wrong with the picture with the office manager…..
and to the rest of the committee….whoever you may be….thank you…..if i can ever be of service
please let me know….i just know this administration has to go…..
still no apology from the officers for the office manager mistake….
and still no acknowledgement of the wonderful work errol and barbara had done…
pretty much a spineless group of officers………
—–
How sad that if the former general manager had not committed the email fraud, no one would
have conducted an investigation or learned of his prior convictions.
He would still have a job. He made his own bed on that one.
Also sad that instead of apologizing to Mr. Fernandez on behalf of an errant
employee, Vice President Trombetta ignored the facts of our own Union
Lawyer’s findings. He chose to attack Mr. Fernandez, one of the members who was
wronged in this fraud, as if somehow the victim was responsible for the
crime. Should Mr. Trombetta not be rather embarrassed that Local #47 was so
slow to investigate that members are now compelled to take action themselves
– at their own expense – to see justice done?
The real question is: if Mr. Fernandez had not undertaken his own
investigation, would any of this have ever come to light? The sad answer is
probably not. We have all lost faith in the integrity of our Officers. I
pray that in the December elections, we have visibility of more upright
people as choices for officers, and the courage to take the initiative to
elect them.
I was on tour and unable to attend the Meeting. But I shall make every
effort to be at the next one!
I was working, so could not attend.
THANK YOU for your watchfulness and disclosure.
—–
I was working, so could not attend.
THANK YOU for your watchfulness and disclosure.
—–
Another good meeting. Bravos to all who attended. The
statements of our “august” Vice President weren’t so
much laughable as pathetic. One thing he did succeed
in doing, in addition to impugning Charles Fernandez
character…he managed to insult us all!
Ever Onward
——-
had to work – and couldn’t make it – keep stirring it up!
thanks
——-
Espinosa, Trombetta, and anyone else involved in this attempted fraud and its related scandals
should resign effective immediately.
——-
Time for a clean sweep!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
——-
Thanks for the info on the meeting. It a shame we can’t get straight & honest answers from our
elected officials. I’m real sorry I couldn’t be there Monday night. Keep up the good work of uncovering
the villains in this union and reporting the real truths.
——-
to Mr. Fernandez…I know others in the committee will see this and I know they helped out
lots, too and I appreciate all of their hard work also, but I just wanted to say how much I respected what you did….
I love people who take a stand, forgive me.. this is not ladylike language but you have
Balls! It’s a compliment!! Just telling it like it is… your presentation was
Exquisite, articulate, honest and firm. Thank you again.
By the way…I still want to know where all of our money is going…
$190 x 9,000 is 1,710,000.000 that does not include work dues…..that is just yearly dues…
——-
Thanks again for the update. We were unable to
attend. Keep the news coming via this email.
——-
FROM THE COMMITTEE:
There were many disturbing things about the conduct of the board members at this meeting, and
some equally inspiring examples of the members’ participation in their own Local! Some board
members presented themselves well, most however seemed to be determined to shove all
responsibility onto others. One board member said, “We’re not there everyday, how can we know
what’s going on?” They are on the board, it is part of their job to know what’s going on, and the
BOARD is entirely responsible for the conduct of those employed, especially when the BOARD had to ok the hiring.
•••••••
Where does the responsibility fall, or should we say, fail? The president, fond of calling himself a CEO, is ultimately responsible. The office manager was his most trusted advisor, promoted by his recommendation. But the president travels a lot and cannot possibly know everything that goes on in the building. The vice president was in charge of the departments from which the general manager terminated long-term employees. However, our sources at the Local tell us that the VP is there four days a week, teaching lessons elsewhere every Wednesday, and his disdain for the members-services departments is legendary. The secretary treasurer, the one officer who is always there, failed to report the hostile work environment being created by the office manager. The executive board, who actually DO have the ultimate responsibility, were getting all their information on the state of the office from, guess who, THE GENERAL MANAGER. Not once during this administration have any of the department heads been asked to give reports to the board, as was the common practice in previous administrations.”
When an investigation was called for, before anything was known about the general manager’s background, the president decided to conduct the investigation with only himself and the Local’s lawyer involved. One would have hoped that, because of his close relationship with the general manager, he would have recused himself, or at the very least, formed a committee to investigate. When the general manager’s history was discovered and it was learned that the president’s credit card had been used to set up an illicit account, a formal request was made of the executive board to turn over the investigation to an impartial body. The request was denied stating that the investigation was almost completed and had been turned over to the union’s lawyer, who is, let’s face it, an employee of the president and the executive board. The lawyer’s extensive report, read at the meeting, placed the responsibility for the wrongdoings solely on the former general manager. The former general manager, when interviewed by the lawyer, stated that he felt he was authorized by his employer to take the actions that he did.
It’s sad, but not unexpected that nobody wants to take responsibility. Responsibility has fallen down and failed, everywhere.
•••••••
At the meeting, one board member worked very, very hard to try to infer that the former general manager was the victim of some sort of vendetta. Let’s be perfectly clear. It was the former general managers’ creation of the imposter email account using President Espinosa’s credit card that triggered the investigation that exposed his history and led to his dismissal. The former general manager was the author and finisher of his own removal from our Local, whether he understands that or not.
Further, it was the perceived inaction of the board to conduct any immediate investigation that prompted Mr. Fernandez and the COMMITTEE to conduct their own. As we have seen since, they seem far more concerned with their own hides and shifting blame than any remorse or concern over the utter destruction of the careers of a number of long serving, faithful employees, namely: Errol Henry (9 years), Barbara Markay (15 years) and John McMahon (7 years). None of the three was allowed to address the board or defend themselves in any way. Not one. Indeed, they act far more concerned for the former general manager’s welfare than those fired by him at the bidding of the Executive Board or a member thereof. This in and of itself raises far more questions than it answers.
Board members pointed out that they assigned Counsel Levy to conduct an investigation on May 1st. His appointment on May 1st was irrelevant however, since Mr. Fernandez had been informed by President Espinosa in a correspondence that the investigation would not begin until he returned from a vacation in Europe, namely, May 16th. The board members’ statement was factually correct, but inferred an investigation had begun when by the Presidents’ own admission it would not begin until 15 days later. Oh those half-truths will get you every time!,… especially if you know it’s a half-truth when you say it. A one-month lapse from the date the imposter email was sent and a THREE-month lapse from when the imposter account was created.
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The issues with Local 47 go far beyond a former general manager. The issues go to character, conduct, accountability and what the vast majority of this local wants for it’s future. We need people on our board who have no agenda other than what is best for the ENTIRE Local and not any small group. Several of the board members are excellent representatives for what our local should stand for, several however, are not. We need Officers who are answerable to no one except the membership’s interests as a WHOLE, and not seemingly part of an agenda to dismantle and downsize our Local in order to make it desirable to only a small minority and hiding behind a hatchet man to do it.
We have a chance for change in December. This Local desperately needs it and we must take it!
Until next time
THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47