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.
Graduate student unionization efforts at private colleges have become more urgent following the election of President Donald Trump.
Even though in 2016 the National Labor Relation Board (NLRB) ruled that students may unionize, many fear that they will eventually lose that very right due to Trump’s appointment of two Republicans to the NLRB. The NLRB has a history of flip-flopping on the issue over the past two decades.
In each federal election year, the major parties create a national caucus that comes together to outline their party’s legislative-political principles and goals. The resulting document is commonly referred to as the “party platform”. In most instances, the platform reflects the ideals upon which a party would govern, while also underscoring principles and policies that it has previously embraced and operated under.
With the national election taking place Tuesday, November 8, I have reviewed both the Republican and Democratic platforms with an eye toward the issues that most impact AFM members. Some of the following text is carefully paraphrased, while much of it is quoted directly from the printed platform documents adopted at each party’s convention. We encourage you to carefully review this article.
To read these documents directly, the Democratic platform can be accessed at www.demconvention.com/platform/, while the Republican platform can be accessed at www.gop.com/the-2016-republican-party-platform/. As you research and prepare to vote, you may review respective stances on each of the items listed in this article by visiting the DNC and RNC websites. Please note, this article serves only as a basic guide relating to union issues, it does not attempt to cover every topic outlined in either party’s respective published platforms.
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Corporate lobbyists are busy trying to persuade Republican Senators to try to do away with the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order, which requires all companies seeking publicly funded contracts to report any record of violating workers’ rights on the job. As President Obama explained at its signing ceremony: “Taxpayer dollars should not reward companies that break the law.”
The lobby group opposing the law says that it is unnecessary. However, since 2013, Good Jobs Nation, a group representing 2 million low-wage employees of federal contracts, has filed more than 30 legal complaints on behalf of 500 workers documenting systematic wage theft, misclassification, and other labor law violations at the Pentagon, Smithsonian museums, and other federal offices in Washington, DC. A National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) investigation revealed that one Pentagon food service contractor threatened and intimidated workers who tried to organize.
As President Obama prepares to nominate a new Supreme Court justice to fill the vacancy left by Justice Antonin Scalia’s passing, Republicans have vowed to block the nomination—even though they are constitutionally obligated to vote on the President’s appointment.
AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka urges members to sign an online petition holding Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republican leadership accountable to the people and allowing hearings to take place. Trumka says, “Senate Republicans are already planning obstruction. They say they will ignore the president’s nomination. Refuse to act on it.” In doing so, he says, the GOP is shirking their responsibilities. “This is an absolutely shameful, un-American position. And we cannot stand for it. I have one message for Senate Republicans: ‘Do your job.’ That’s what the American people who hired you expect you to do.”
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
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
