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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Home » Recent News » Taxpayers Subsidize Fast Food Industry


Taxpayers Subsidize Fast Food Industry

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According to a report from researchers at University of California, Berkeley, most fast food workers are paid so poorly that they are forced to enroll in public assistance programs, despite the industry making $200 billion in profits each year. “The taxpayer costs we discovered were staggering,” says the report’s co-author Ken Jacobs, chair of UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education. Even those few who are full-time employees rely on public assistance as a rule, receiving benefits to the tune of $7 billion annually, twice the overall rate of the workforce. And that figure does not include the expenditures of state and local programs.
A separate report from the National Employment Law Project found that the 10 biggest fast food companies alone were responsible for 60% of the $7 billion in public costs, and earned $7.4 billion in profits last year. McDonald’s workers alone account for about $1.2 billion in public assistance.







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