TromboneChat

My view of the musicians union right now

And what exactly do you expect the musicians union to do during a pandemic?

Bonehead wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:28 am My view of the musicians union right now

They're lobbying lawmakers to provide economic relief for out of work musicians. It's a tough situation, but they're doing the best they can. Better to support their efforts than take shots at them.

castrubone wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:22 am They're lobbying lawmakers to provide economic relief for out of work musicians. It's a tough situation, but they're doing the best they can. Better to support their efforts than take shots at them.

Bonehead wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:28 am My view of the musicians union right now

Looks better than Kansas. I never understood why she wanted to return to that terrible place...

Also, "Unions, if you can't beat them... Join them..."

Oh wai---

See a thread about the Petrillo Fund from the AFM, which I posted today.

It is under the "Gigs" Topic Area.

harrisonreed wrote: ↑Tue Mar 17, 2020 7:43 am

Bonehead wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:28 am My view of the musicians union right now

Looks better than Kansas. I never understood why she wanted to return to that terrible place...

I was in Kansas once. I was driving from north Texas to Chicago. Didn't verge right when I was supposed to.

Bonehead started something he couldn't finish.

castrubone wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 7:22 am

Bonehead wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:28 am My view of the musicians union right now

They're lobbying lawmakers to provide economic relief for out of work musicians. It's a tough situation, but they're doing the best they can. Better to support their efforts than take shots at them.

Yep.

The AFM is working on sideletters to current agreements that allow content to temporarily be created and distributed in non-traditional ways for orchestras/locals that want to sign onto them. This is critical to keeping audiences engaged when they can't be in the concert hall. Some scenarios also allow orchestras to generate a little revenue to help carry through the toughest times most of us have ever seen in the music industry.

That's just one way they're helping us through this. Perfect always? Nope, but who is?

When one thinks of the “musicians’ union” in the US, the American Federation of Musicians comes to mind. As others have said here recently, the AFM has been involved in negotiating updated contracts for benefit of musicians in various genres, as well as establishing a relief fund for musicians who are suddenly prohibited from performing. The AFM has also been lobbying Congress to establish programs that will benefit us. In my end of the business, the symphony orchestras, the AFM has extended the provisions of our electronic media agreement, the Integrated Media Agreement, to allow new electronic media activities during the pandemic.

But the AFM is a federation of local unions. It is the local union that negotiates and administers contracts with our local employers. If a musician has a dispute with an employer, it is the union that represents the musician and covers the expenses associated with that dispute. In the symphony orchestra world, almost all of us have agreed to COVID-19 concessions so that we can continue to be compensated under our agreements while we are prevented from our usual performance activities. Most orchestras have taken a pay cut; some orchestras have not; and some orchestras are not getting paid at all. But it is the local union that negotiates these contracts.

The union can’t do everything, but our unions have done and continue to do a lot to help working musicians.

My two cents.

Tim Myers

Principal Trombone, Saint Louis Symphony
Teacher of Applied Music, Trombone, at Washington University in St. Louis
Member, The Trombones of the Saint Louis Symphony
STL Trombones, LLC
Executive Board, Musicians’ Association of St. Louis, AFM Local 2-197

Bonehead wrote: ↑Mon Mar 16, 2020 5:28 am My view of the musicians union right now

So it's been 3 months? No response yet Bonehead.