Tag Archives: news

Solo Violinist Honored for Work with Homeless

Last month, Kelly Hall-Tompkins of Local 802 (New York City) was recognized in the New York Times as one of New York Today’s New Yorkers of the Year. Last year, the violinist earned praise for her performance as the fiddler in the Broadway revival of Fiddler on the Roof. But, she wasn’t recognized for that acclaimed solo performance. She was recognized for her monthly visits and performances of classical music in homeless shelters.

She first found herself performing at a shelter near Lincoln Center as she struggled to prepare for a solo performance following the death of a close friend in 2004. She felt she had reached her homeless audience of around 12 on a deeper level, affecting them more profoundly at a difficult time in their lives.

The following year she founded Music Kitchen—Food for the Soul, a program to lift the spirits of homeless people through live classical music performances. Since its inception, she has inspired around 200 other musicians to join her for performances in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Los Angeles, and Paris.

New Rules Hinder Collective Bargaining

According to its website (nlrb.gov), the five-member National Labor Relations Board is “an independent federal agency vested with the power to safeguard employees’ rights to organize and to determine whether to have unions as their bargaining representative.” In December, the board quickly overturned several union-friendly rules. This follows the Republican Senate confirmations of two nominees in August and September, and Trump’s selection of Republican Philip Miscimarra as chair. The decisions were quickly pushed through because Miscimarra’s five-year term on the board was to end December 16. Each of the rulings were decided 3-2, with Democrats dissenting. These NLRB decisions include:

  • Overturning a 2016 rule requiring settlements to provide a “full remedy” to aggrieved workers.
  • Reversing a 2004 decision bolstering workers’ rights to organize free from unlawful employer interference.
  • Overturning a 2015 decision holding employers responsible for bargaining with workers if they have indirect control over those workers’ employment or have the ability to exercise control.
  • Reversing a 2016 decision safeguarding unionized workers’ rights to bargain over changes in employment terms.
  • Overturning a 2011 decision protecting the prerogative of a group of employees within a larger company to form a bargaining unit.

These new rules could affect millions of workers hoping to unionize.

National Museum of Gospel Music Planned for Chicago

Chicago planners have announced that they hope to open the first major gospel music museum in 2020. The planned $37.2 million National Museum of Gospel Music will be housed on a site once occupied by Pilgrim Baptist Church, known as the birthplace of gospel. Don Jackson, founder and producer of the Stellar Gospel Music Awards and former chair of the DuSable Museum of African American History is leading the project. The Gospel Museum has already been incorporated as a nonprofit. The proposed 40,000-square-foot design would include exhibitions, an auditorium, and a research library.

“Chicago is the birthplace of gospel music and the perfect home for the new National Museum of Gospel Music,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a statement. “The museum will pay further tribute to the home-grown genre that’s given life to legends like Thomas Dorsey, Mahalia Jackson, Albertina Walker, Jerry Dixon, Shirley Caeser, and so many more.”

Six Flags Workers Avoid Strike

Workers at Six Flags Magic Mountain in Valencia, California, accepted a new contract at the end of December that averted a strike. “The membership was not thrilled with the outcome,” says International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers District Lodge 947 President Sal Vasquez. They had wanted health care benefits extended to all full-time seasonal employees and for part-time seasonal employees to receive paid time off for bereavement and jury duty. The two sides met with a federal mediator on December 22.

The union represents 170 ride mechanics, stage technicians, electricians, welders, landscapers, painters, and other maintenance workers whose wages range from $12 to $35 per hour. Both sides were committed to avoiding an interruption in operation. The park launched a 365-day schedule for 2018.

McDonald’s Is Accountable as Joint Employer

While the National Labor Relations Board overturned an Obama-era ruling that gave workers significant leverage in challenging labor practices of fast food restaurants and other chains, McDonald’s will still be held accountable for its misdeeds. NLRB general counsel has been building a strong case for illegal surveillance, discipline, and firing of workers against McDonald’s as a joint employer. Even under the new narrower definition of the law, the fast-food giant exerts “direct and immediate” control over employees at franchised stores. McDonald’s owns the property where locations operate and specify the supply chain vendors, pricing, and store hours.

Unions Plan to Back Marijuana Workers

California unions are hoping to organize the 100,000 expected workers that will enter the cannabis workforce this year. On January 1, legal sale of recreational marijuana in licensed shops to anyone 21 and older began. The United Farm Workers, Teamsters, and United Food and Commercial Workers all hope to gain members through what is already a $22 billion industry in the state that has the highest minimum wage and largest number of union workers.

 

New Internet Streaming Promotion Agreement Approved

The AFM International Executive Board has approved a new agreement known as the Internet Streaming Promotion Agreement. Please log onto the AFM.org website (www.afm.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Internet-Streaming-Agreement.pdf) to view a copy of the agreement.

This agreement will enable signatories to a local’s Single Engagement Contract to tape 30 minutes of a performance and utilize up to three minutes of that taping on social media platforms (Facebook, YouTube, etc.) for the purpose of promoting live engagements by the same signatory. The intent of having this agreement available is to increase the number of union engagements within a local’s jurisdiction.

This agreement is not available to symphony, opera, or ballet orchestras or chamber groups that have collective bargaining agreements (CBAs). The new Internet Streaming Promotion Agreement is not available to producers of theatrical shows.
Orchestras with Internet projects should contact the Symphonic Services Division for pertinent information. The agreement may be utilized by those orchestras that file single engagement contracts with their local union.

For any questions regarding this agreement, please contact either AFM Electronic Media Services Division Director Pat Varriale at (917) 229-0234, pvarriale@afm.org or AFM Symphonic Electronic Media Director Debbie Newmark at (917) 229-0225, or email dnewmark@afm.org.

New Symphonic and Local Non-Symphonic Limited Pressing Agreements Now Available

The AFM International Executive Board recently approved new versions of the AFM Symphonic Limited Pressing Agreement and the Local Non-Symphonic Limited Pressing Agreement. For questions and information about the AFM Symphonic Limited Pressing Agreement please contact AFM Symphonic Electronic Media Director Debbie Newmark at (917) 229-0225 or by email dnewmark@afm.org and for information and questions about the Local Non-Symphonic Limited Pressing Agreement please contact AFM Electronic Media Services Division Director Pat Varriale at (917) 229-0234 or  by email pvarriale@afm.org.

Multi-Card Member Rebates

Effective January 1, 2018, members who belonged to three or more AFM Locals throughout 2017 can petition the AFM Secretary-Treasurer for a “rebate equal to the per capita dues received by the Federation” for that member’s membership in each AFM Local in excess of two. (Members pay their Federation per capita dues as a portion of their local annual dues. The local forwards the member’s per capita dues to the Federation. Only the Federation’s portion of the annual dues will be rebated).

According to Article 9, Section 16, of the AFM Bylaws, the rebate is only available to members who held simultaneous memberships in three or more locals for the full calendar year. No rebates are available to members who held membership in fewer than three locals. The rebate will only be given for membership in the third local (and each additional local above three, if any). Members will not be given rebates for dual membership.

Under the rebate program, membership in a base of two locals must be established in order for a member to qualify for a rebate. The AFM Secretary-Treasurer’s Office has determined that a musician’s membership in his or her “home local” and the subsequent local of longest tenure shall be designated as the two base locals. The Secretary-Treasurer’s Office will then rebate the appropriate per capita dues for membership in the third local and any other local(s) beyond three to which a member belonged for the entire 2017 calendar year. The amount rebated will be determined by the amount of per capita dues the member paid for AFM membership in a third local and any other locals beyond three.

To petition for a Multi-Card Member Rebate, members should fill out the form below and return it to the AFM Secretary-Treasurer’s Office together with copies of all their paid-up 2017 membership cards, receipts of cancelled checks for annual dues from all locals, OR a letter from each local stating that the petitioner was a member in good standing of the local for all of 2017.

No rebates will be issued until the AFM Secretary-Treasurer’s Office verifies that petitioning members held continuous membership in three or more locals for the full prior year of 2017.

No rebates will be issued until after March 1, 2018.

Petition for 2017 Multi-Card Rebate

Regular Members – $66; Life Members – $50; Inactive Life Members – $44

Article 5, Section 47(a) & 47(b) of AFM Bylaws

Under the terms of Article 9, Section 16, of AFM Bylaws, I am hereby requesting a rebate of 2017 per capita dues paid to the Federation.

Name:________________________________________________________

                                              (First)                               (Last)        

                  

Social Security or Social Insurance Number:
_____________________________________________________________

I belonged to the following locals for the entire 2017 calendar year:

Local:_________________________   Local:_________________________

                                                   (Number)                                                                                      (Number)

Local:_________________________   Local:_________________________

                                                   (Number)                                                                                      (Number)

Local:_________________________   Local:_________________________

                                                   (Number)                                                                                      (Number)

Please include with this petition copies of all paid-up 2017 membership cards, receipts of cancelled checks for annual dues from all locals, or a letter from each local stating that you were a member in good standing of the local for all of 2017.  Allow six to eight weeks to process your rebate.

Return to: American Federation of Musicians; Secretary-Treasurer’s Office; Multi-Card Rebate Program; 1501 Broadway, Suite 600; New York, NY 10036   Attention: Diane DePiro

Jeff Coffin

Jeff Coffin Returns to High School to Support Music Education

Jeff CoffinSaxophonist and Local 257 (Nashville, TN) member Jeff Coffin of the Dave Matthews Band paid a surprise visit to music students and their teacher at Spaulding High School in Rochester, New Hampshire. Coffin performed with the school’s concert band, spoke to students, and together with Yamaha, presented them with a new Yamaha YX-500F xylophone valued at more than $4,000. Coffin, who attended Spaulding High School, recalled his friendships and lessons learned from his time spent in Rochester.

The event was a joint effort by Yamaha in conjunction with DonorsChoose.org—a nonprofit that accepts donations large and small from individuals and institutions providing aid so far to 659 public school programs all over the country. Yamaha has matched 3,000 citizen donations, contributing $250,000 to $500,000 worth of instruments, affecting the lives of about 163,000 music students and nearly 700 teachers.

According to Lisa MacDonald, director of marketing for Yamaha Corporation of America, awareness and inspiration are just as important as equipment. “We hope music lovers everywhere will follow his lead and investigate how they can help a music teacher in their area,” she says. “Supporting a music program is an investment in the success of our children as well-rounded human beings.”