Clik here to view.
Reinforcing The Image of the AFM– Old, Dated and Out of Touch
Today I received an email from Thomas F. Lee the President of the American Federation of Musicians. I suppose that it went to all AFM members for whom they have email addresses. It begins: Dear...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Musician Performance Rights–Pending Legislation to Benefit Musicians
Yesterday I received another email from AFM President Lee. Unlike the video the previous day, which had a “please join the union message,” this one was all business. It tells of the legislation...
View ArticleWassup in Detroit?
The Detroit Symphony went on strike a little over four weeks ago, although negotiations broke down several weeks before that. That puts the strike clock at around 11:45PM, by normal standards –...
View ArticleAFM wins in court; won't matter much
The AFM (or at least its lawyers) had a good win in labor law land the other day: The AFM has won a significant victory affecting orchestra media negotiations. The AFM has consistently taken the...
View ArticleThe Musician's Union: A Contrarian Point of View–Sort of
Here’s a blog posted on March 15, 2011 by Columbus Symphony bassoonist, Betsy Sturdevant on her blog. In it she makes some interesting observations about unions in general, and the Musician’s Union in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
American Orchestras: Yes, it's a crisis
“I am convinced that if the rate of change within an organization is less than the rate of change outside, the end is near.” – Jack Welch In the last twelve months the Honolulu, Syracuse, and New...
View ArticleWhat happens in Vegas might matter to you
The first Convention of the American Federation of Musicians since 2010 begins today. As a local officer, I will be attending as one of two delegates from Local 8. I’ll also be continuing a tradition I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Role of the Orchestra Committee vs. the Local
An interesting musician session at the League’s June conference featured a panel discussing “The Role of the Orchestra Committee and the Local Union.” The panelists were Robert Levine, Principal...
View ArticleCharleston decertifies
I was reminded yesterday of a classic newspaper headline that combined obviousness with a complete lack of useful information: Something went wrong in jet crash, experts say Something similarly went...
View ArticleOur conspiratorial industry
One of the more intriguing aspects to the psychology of our industry is a general propensity to conspiratorial thinking. It’s not hard to find amongst musicians; the widespread belief that the League...
View ArticleThe League and Minnesota
Drew McManus created a bit of controversy last week when he wrote: There’s a fascinating article by Lee Rosenbaum in the 3/27/2014 edition of her CultureGrrl column where she discusses the decision by...
View ArticleJustice for extras – some practical considerations
There was an unusual amount of feedback on my post last week about the pay disparity between full-time musicians and subs in Minnesota and how that might have come about. Some of the feedback confirmed...
View Article
