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.

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Tag Archives: boston musicians association

New Bedford Symphony Orchestra Musicians Ratify First CBA

May 1, 2020 IM

Musicians of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra (NBSO) voted by an overwhelming majority in April to ratify a first Collective Bargaining Agreement with the Boston Musicians’ Association (BMA), Local 9-535. The NBSO was founded in 1915 and becomes the AFM’s newest member orchestra.

In December 2019, NBSO musicians voted in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) Region 1 election to recognize the BMA as their legal bargaining agent. As a result of the cooperative negotiations which followed, parties came to a four-year agreement providing employee status to all musicians, sick pay, a tenured roster with non-renewal and appeals protections for roster members, grievance and arbitration, and solid annual wage increases.

Orchestra News

Boston Musicians Association Achieves Five-Year CBA

March 8, 2020 IM

The Boston Landmarks Orchestra voted by an overwhelming majority to ratify a first CBA with the Boston Musicians Association (BMA), Local 9-535 (Boston, MA). Informal talks and formal negotiations spanned over four years and included a stipulation by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to bargain.

Negotiations were challenging, but with the help of the Federal Mediation and Conciliatory Services (FMCS) and a tremendous amount of work from the BMA member bargaining committee—Chair Ken Stalberg, Hans Bohn, Kevin Green, Nancy Hudgins and Bob Lynam—the BMA and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra came to a five-year agreement. Among other standard AFM provisions, the agreement names a tenured roster protected by solid non-renewal and appeals processes, and includes solid annual wage increases.