Tag Archives: recent news

Recent News

Union Members Among 30 Highest Paid Musicians

Several union members were among Forbes’ list of the highest earning musicians. The figures include money from touring, record sales, publishing royalties, merchandise, endorsements, and other business ventures, during the June 2013 to June 2014 fiscal year. AFM members included on the list were: $81 million—Bruce Springsteen of Locals 399 (Asbury Park, NJ) and 47 (Los Angeles, CA); $80 million—Justin Bieber of Local 418 (Stratford, ON); $64 million—Taylor Swift of Local 257 (Nashville, TN); $60 million—Bruno Mars of Local 47; $51 million—Michael Bublé of Local 145 (Vancouver, BC); and $44 million—Kenny Chesney of Local 257.

Other Interesting News

Instrument Carry-on Rule for Flights Pleases Musicians 

DOT Harmonizes Rules for Musical Instruments on Flights 

Musicians Get Approval to Carry on Instruments When Flying 

DOT Final Rule on Musical Instruments in the Cabin 

DOT Updates Rules for Musical Instruments on Planes 

U.S. DoT Issues Final Rule – Air Travel with Musical Instruments 

Hey, Rockstars, You Can Now Legally Bring Your Instrument as a Carry On

Recent News

Republicans’ First Target: Social Security

As the Republican majority House of Representatives got to work in January, they set to work to cut Social Security almost immediately. Buried in a package of rule changes, was a provision that the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM) says would: “allow a 20% benefit cut for millions of disabled Americans, unless there are broader Social Security benefit cuts or tax increases improving the solvency of the combined trust funds.”

Republicans didn’t call it a cut, saying they were changing the rules on reallocation (the routine transfer of funds between the Social Security retirement trust fund and the disability program). The Alliance for Retired Americans called the House action “a direct attack on seniors, disabled Americans, and the Social Security trust fund … [and] a complete disregard for keeping the promise to hardworking Americans who have contributed to Social Security.”

Other Interesting News

Instrument Carry-on Rule for Flights Pleases Musicians 

DOT Harmonizes Rules for Musical Instruments on Flights 

Musicians Get Approval to Carry on Instruments When Flying 

DOT Final Rule on Musical Instruments in the Cabin 

DOT Updates Rules for Musical Instruments on Planes 

U.S. DoT Issues Final Rule – Air Travel with Musical Instruments 

Hey, Rockstars, You Can Now Legally Bring Your Instrument as a Carry On

Recent News

One Million Workers Could Lose Health Care

A Republican bill (H.R. 30) passed by the House could strip health care coverage for one million workers, plus add some $53.2 billion to the federal deficit over the next decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), large employers must provide health care coverage to employees who work 30 or more hours a week or face a penalty. H.R. 30 would require employees to work 40 hours a week to qualify for compulsory care. Health care experts say that it’s an incentive for employers to drop workers down to the 39 hours to avoid the responsibility. One study from the US Berkeley Labor Center estimated that 6.5 million people may risk having their hours cut back under the Republican bill, nearly three times the number (2.3 million) that are vulnerable to losing hours under the current 30-hour threshold.

The AFL-CIO and other groups support strengthening employer responsibility rules in the ACA, rather than weakening them. Since ACA became law, the number of Americans with health insurance has increased 10 million (mostly from employer-provided plans), while the percentage of uninsured Americans has dropped from 17.1% to 12.9%.

Other Interesting News

Instrument Carry-on Rule for Flights Pleases Musicians 

DOT Harmonizes Rules for Musical Instruments on Flights 

Musicians Get Approval to Carry on Instruments When Flying 

DOT Final Rule on Musical Instruments in the Cabin 

DOT Updates Rules for Musical Instruments on Planes 

U.S. DoT Issues Final Rule – Air Travel with Musical Instruments 

Hey, Rockstars, You Can Now Legally Bring Your Instrument as a Carry On

Recent News

Trade Deals Bad News for Working Americans

Trade policies, being negotiated in secret, are among the items working Americans should be concerned about in 2015. Among them, the Trade Services Agreement (TISA), the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and FastTrack authority are set to cost Americans jobs and increase inequality across the US and around the world.

TISA, an international services agreement being negotiated between the US and  49 other countries would hand over essential public services to the private sector—who will squeeze every last dime of profit from taxpayers, while degrading services and turning decent careers into minimum wage, no benefit, dead-end jobs.

TTIP is being negotiated between the US and the 28 European Union countries. It would eliminate “regulatory barriers” to trade, and could pose risks if not negotiated correctly.

TPP is being negotiated between the US and 11 countries, among them human rights violators. It would give those countries a pass to not raise their standards to have access to US markets, while accelerating the race to the bottom in terms of wages. It would also give corporations more control over our economy.

Fast Track, if approved, would require Congress to vote on the TPP within 90 days of the date the President submits it to Congress, leaving little time to study or change the agreement.

Other Interesting News

Instrument Carry-on Rule for Flights Pleases Musicians 

DOT Harmonizes Rules for Musical Instruments on Flights 

Musicians Get Approval to Carry on Instruments When Flying 

DOT Final Rule on Musical Instruments in the Cabin 

DOT Updates Rules for Musical Instruments on Planes 

U.S. DoT Issues Final Rule – Air Travel with Musical Instruments 

Hey, Rockstars, You Can Now Legally Bring Your Instrument as a Carry On

Recent News

Bill Would Give Jobs to Aliens Over Qualified US Workers

The Immigration Innovation Act of 2015, or I-Squared, introduced by Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and five co-sponsors would flood the computer-related workforce with hundreds of thousands of temporary guest workers every year. This is even though studies have repeatedly shown that there is no shortage of US workers to fill computer-related jobs. Temporary guest workers are an excuse for employers to send jobs overseas and a source of cheap labor. Hatch is putting US workers out of jobs in order to benefit corporate interests.

“I-Squared does nothing to fix our broken immigration system and, in fact, would make it far worse. We must demand comprehensive immigration reform that protects US citizens and creates a path to citizenship,” says Paul Almeida, president of the Department for Professional Employees (DPE), AFL-CIO.

For many years, the DPE has written about false claims made by employers about a shortage of workers in the computer-related workforce. The DPE issued a fact sheet on the H-1B and L-1 visa program in 2013 and the study, Gaming the System, Guest Worker Visa Programs and Professional and Technical Workers in the US (2012). Together, they debunk the myth perpetrated by employers that there is a shortage of available workers.

According to the DPE, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka sent a letter to all senators urging them to refrain from co-sponsoring the legislation. “At a time when we face unprecedented levels of inequality and decades of wage stagnation, it is irresponsible to expand access to employment-based temporary work that will continue to hold down wages, increase worker vulnerability, and reduce social mobility for deserving workers,” he points out.

After the I-Squared bill was introduced in the 2013-2014 session of Congress, Almeida sent a letter to Sen. Klobuchar detailing what was wrong with the legislation. He is meeting with Congressional staff to urge rejection of the I-Squared bill.

Other Interesting News

Instrument Carry-on Rule for Flights Pleases Musicians 

DOT Harmonizes Rules for Musical Instruments on Flights 

Musicians Get Approval to Carry on Instruments When Flying 

DOT Final Rule on Musical Instruments in the Cabin 

DOT Updates Rules for Musical Instruments on Planes 

U.S. DoT Issues Final Rule – Air Travel with Musical Instruments 

Hey, Rockstars, You Can Now Legally Bring Your Instrument as a Carry On

Recent News

New Agreement reached with Motion Picture TV Film Industries

I am pleased to report that agreement was reached with representatives from the Television and Motion Picture Industries late Friday evening, January 9, 2015 in Los Angeles, for successor Motion Picture and Television Film Labor Agreements and Secondary Markets Fund Agreements. The agreements cover the employment of professional musicians, arrangers, copyists, leaders, conductors and sideline musicians engaged by signatory producers to perform services in theatrical and television film production in the United States and Canada.

The new agreement will extend three years from the date of ratification to April, 2018, approximately. Progressive economic features include across the board wage increases of 2% per year for all classifications of employment. In addition, Wage and benefit payments for sideline musicians engaged in High Budget Video On Demand Productions will rise to existing standards found in the Agreements. Also, up to four minutes of clip use is now permitted under the new agreements for use in films produced abroad.  Payments were increased by 33% for 30 second clip use increments in excess of two minutes.

I’d like to thank our outstanding team of Federation and Local Officers, rank and file representatives and legal counsel  who persevered through numerous difficult rounds of negotiations spanning two years from the outset of bargaining, which began in November, 2012.

I will have further details about this development in my column in the February edition of the International Musician.

Recent News

Philadelphia Orchestra Announces European Tour

With the Philadelphia Orchestra ending 2014 on a positive note of having a $670,000 surplus on its $39.6 million budget, it seems like a good time to travel to Europe. The last time the Orchestra toured Europe was in 2011 during uncertainty with its financial trouble. Now in 2015, with the Orchestra a resounding success comparatively, a tour of Europe has been announced.

There will be 14 concerts in 10 cities over three weeks. The Orchestra will visit the following major European cities: Luxembourg (May 21 and 22), Cologne (May 23), Dresden (May 24), Berlin (May 26), Dortmund (May 27-28), Lyon (May 29), Paris (May 30), Vienna (June 1-2), Amsterdam (June 4), and London (June 5-6).

Along with the announcement, Yannick Nézet-Séguin current music director, stated: “At the conclusion of three years of our magical partnership. I am proud to bring to European audiences this current embodiment of the great Philadelphia sound that we have collaborated on together.”

 

Recent News

Notice from Sony to Current and Former Employees of SPE Affiliated Companies

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) experienced a significant systems disruption on Monday, November 24, 2014.  SPE has determined that the cause of the disruption was a brazen cyber attack. After identifying the disruption, SPE took prompt action to contain the cyber attack, engaged recognized security consultants and contacted law enforcement. SPE learned December 1, 2014, that the security of certain personally identifiable information about its current and former employees may have been compromised.

SPE has made arrangements with a third-party service provider, AllClear ID, to offer 12 months of identity protection services at no charge to potentially impacted current and former production employees of SPE or an SPE affiliated company. Please contact AllClear ID directly to initiate the enrollment process and/or learn more about their services. (In US and Canada: (855) 731-6013, Outside of the US and Canada: (512) 201-2183.)

Please note that in most cases, current production employees will be able to enroll in the AllClear ID services immediately. If you are a former production employee you will be asked to provide the following information in order to confirm your eligibility for AllClear ID services.

  • Legal First and Last Name
  • E-mail Address
  • Capacity in which you worked for or with Sony Pictures or an affiliated company
  • Whether your worked on a TV or motion picture production (or other)
  • Name of production (if applicable)
  • Union affiliation (if applicable)
  • Position/title
  • Approximate dates you worked for or with Sony Pictures or an affiliated company
  • Location: (city and state, or country)

Due to the high volume of inquiries, it may take several days (generally 2-4 business days) for AllClear ID to validate your eligibility. We appreciate your understanding and patience during this time.

Potentially affected individuals can review the full text of the individual notifications and learn other information about how to protect yourself from identity theft and other potential loss at sonypictures.com.”

 

AIDS Quilt Songbook
Recent News

Classical Musicians and Celebrities Collaborate on New Album to Fight AIDS

Today is World AIDS Day and Sing for Hope is releasing  AIDS Quilt Songbook: Sing for Hope, a new album featuring classical musicians and celebrities to benefit amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research on their quest to end the AIDS epidemic.

The musicians performing in the album ranges from rising stars to award-winning classical artists like Yo-Yo Ma of local 802 (New York City), Isabel Leonard, and Joyce DiDonato. The founders of Sing for Hope – Monica Yunus and Camille Zamora – also have a part in An AIDS Quilt Songbook: Sing for Hope.

The album, co-produced by GPR Records and distributed by Naxos worldwide, will be available on iTunes, Amazon, and retails stores throughout the US and Canada for $19.95.

Watch the video below to learn more and see how you can help.