Now is the right time to become an American Federation of Musicians member. From ragtime to rap, from the early phonograph to today's digital recordings, the AFM has been there for its members. And now there are more benefits available to AFM members than ever before, including a multi-million dollar pension fund, excellent contract protection, instrument and travelers insurance, work referral programs and access to licensed booking agents to keep you working.
As an AFM member, you are part of a membership of more than 80,000 musicians. Experience has proven that collective activity on behalf of individuals with similar interests is the most effective way to achieve a goal. The AFM can negotiate agreements and administer contracts, procure valuable benefits and achieve legislative goals. A single musician has no such power.
The AFM has a proud history of managing change rather than being victimized by it. We find strength in adversity, and when the going gets tough, we get creative - all on your behalf.
Like the industry, the AFM is also changing and evolving, and its policies and programs will move in new directions dictated by its members. As a member, you will determine these directions through your interest and involvement. Your membership card will be your key to participation in governing your union, keeping it responsive to your needs and enabling it to serve you better. To become a member now, visit www.afm.org/join.
March 24, 2015
IM -AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka welcomed Napoleón Gómez Urrutia, president of the Mexican mine and metalworkers’ union Los Mineros, to Atlanta at the end of February. Gómez addressed the AFL-CIO Executive Council saying, “As long as Mexican workers don’t have rights, workers in America are under threat.”
In his remarks, Gómez argued that low wages and repression of workers in Mexico hurt US workers by reducing exports to Mexico and creating unfair incentives to relocate plants from the US. “Workers in the US and Mexico have to fight together, even harder, for justice and against inequality,” he argues. He called for the halt of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and demanded real labor reforms for both countries. While the Los Mineros union has doubled the real wages of its members in the past decade, most Mexican workers face repression when they try to join democratic unions.
In 2011, Gómez received the AFL-CIO’s Meany–Kirkland Human Rights Award but was unable to attend the ceremony because of criminal charges filed against him by the Mexican government, which have since been defeated. “This is a great victory for democratic unionism and international solidarity,” says Trumka of the long-awaited visit by the respected labor leader.