International Musician, Officer Columns, President's Message

New Pension Law

January 27, 2015

In December, Congress passed the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act of 2014. This legislation is not currently relevant for the American Federation of Musicians & Employers’ Pension Fund (AFM-EPF) because it applies only to severely underfunded plans. The AFM-EPF is not severely underfunded.

Final Rules for Musical Instrument Air Travel Released by USDOT

January 7, 2015

I am pleased to announce that on December 30, 2014 the United States Department of Transportation released the long awaited final administrative rule which fully implements section 403 of the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2012 – the law authorizing musical instruments as carry-on baggage onboard US air carriers.

Game Noise, Game Over; Update on Relocation; and IMA Negotiations

December 29, 2014

Last month, I promised to report on discussions I had in London with representatives of the British Musicians’ Union (BMU), prior to heading to Budapest for the first International Conference on Music Streaming.

The Budapest Conference: A Campaign for Fairness in Music Streaming?

December 1, 2014

I am writing this month’s column while flying back to AFM headquarters after a week of informative meetings November 17 through 21 in London with our counterparts from the British Musicians Union on electronic media issues, and in Budapest, Hungary, where the Hungarian Musicians Union and the International Federation of Musicians (FIM) convened the first […]

Relocation, Part Two: Temporarily Postponed, but Very Much Alive

November 1, 2014

As previously reported in this column in July, Secretary-Treasurer Sam Folio and I, as fully authorized by your International Executive Board (IEB), opted to negotiate an agreement to purchase an office condo located in the financial district of lower Manhattan to serve as the AFM’s new home. In my June column, I also provided a […]

Carry-on Talks with DOT: We Have Liftoff

October 1, 2014

By the time this column is published, the AFM and the US Department of Transportation (DOT) will have convened a second historic meeting at DOT headquarters in Washington, DC, to address the difficulties professional musicians face when traveling by air with musical instruments. Our initial meeting was convened in July by DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx […]

Games the Employers (and Agents) Play

September 1, 2014

Even before it received rank-and-file approval late last month, the AFM’s new Video Game Agreement was already in use in Los Angeles, despite a crusade against it by an assortment of Hollywood employers and composers who were offended two years ago when the International Executive Board jettisoned a 2006 agreement because it contained inferior wages […]

AFM Testimony on African Ivory Ban

August 1, 2014

As you may know, the actions of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in implementing a ban on the commercial trade in African elephant ivory have imposed severe restrictions on our members who regularly perform internationally with instruments that lawfully contain small amounts of elephant ivory. A USFWS order originally issued February 25, […]

Jingles, Games, Relocation and Symphonic Media

July 1, 2014

As you know, much of my time this year has been consumed by negotiations toward agreements covering the services of our union members when recording commercial spot announcements (jingles), video games, and in symphonic electronic media. At the same time, I have been busy evaluating options for the relocation of Federation headquarters when our existing […]

Relocation: A Decades-Old Work in Progress, Part 1

June 3, 2014

As you know, the 99th Convention adopted a financial package that will raise $1.2 million in additional revenue annually for the Federation, from 2014 onward. The delegates debated and eventually affirmed the financial measures through a simple voice vote—bypassing the time-consuming roll-call vote process that has historically accompanied convention financial resolutions. This was seen as […]