LOCAL 293, AFM SINCE 1903 Volume 116 No. 02 AFM International President Ray Hair and other AFM Dignitaries Visit the Hamilton Musicians’ Guild, Local 293 Office Photo by Mike Perron Monday, Sept 30, 2019 7:00 pm (Doors open at 6:30 pm) Mills Hardware 95 King Street East, Hamilton, Ontario ) Draws for Special Gifts Social Hour after the Meeting 2 President’s Report As we roll into the fall season I’m struck by how many items we’ve dealt with since our last general membership meeting. I hope everyone had a safe and productive summer and had a chance to enjoy the good weather while it lasted. In June we attended the AFM Convention/Candaian Conference in Las Vegas. Temperatures were al- ways in the 100 degree plus zone and we were basically hermetically sealed in the Westgate Hotel. Brent Larry Feudo served on the Good & Welfare Commit- tee and I served on the Organization & Legislation Committee which entailed only a few meetings for us because there were fewer issues to deliberate on. Janna, on the other hand, served on the Law Committee which met nightly and at great length. I’d like to take a moment to thank Janna for her work on that committee which took a lot of time and effort. AFM 101st Convention - Good & Welfare Committee AFM 101st Convention - Organization & Legislation Committee AFM 101st Convention - Law Committee To summarize, this year the Convention was very harmonious with overall satisfaction with the International Executive Board under President Ray Hair’s leadership. The financial picture is better with a two million dollar surplus. The biggest bone of contention is the American Pension Fund (EPW) being underfunded. The IEB is diligently working on resolving this issue as we speak. (Please note-this does not affect the Musicians Pension Fund of Canada). It speaks to the overall satisfaction with the IEB that the entire board was re-elected with the exception of Joe Parente who retired from the board and was replaced by Ed Malaga. At the Canadian Conference Janna served on the Advocacy Committee, Brent chaired the Diversity Committee and I served on the Standards Committee. Like most Canadian Conferences the proceedings were collegial and camaraderie was the order of the day. We are proud to say that Janna was nominated for Secretary-Treasurer of the Canadian Conference and won the post. Again we say ku- dos to Janna for a job well done. In August we attended the OCSM conference held here in Hamilton at the Sheraton Hotel. This is the organization of Canadian symphonic musicians’ conference held annually. Typically a forum for issues that concern symphonic musicians, it serves as an over- view of the general health of orchestras in Canada. We were able to attend several presentations among them a McMaster Live Lab seminar. We were especially intrigued by Dr.Chong`s talk about the health issues facing musicians. He had the scientific data to back up his findings and through his work at his Musicians Clinic he`s very familiar with all the ills that plague professional musicians. We are pleased to announce that Dr.Chong will be the recipient of the George R. Robinson Award along with Judy Marsales at this year`s Bob Pedler Memorial Fundraiser on October 26th held at Stonewalls from 12 to 6pm. We had the pleasure of hosting a luncheon for AFM President Ray Hair, Secretary Treasurer of the AFM Jay Blumenthal and sever- al AFM officers here in our office during the Conference. It was nice way to spend time with them and I`m pleased to say the entire Local 293 Executive Board was in attendance (see photo on the front cover of this issue of the Libretto). It was a rare chance to have a more informal setting to meet with our AFM leadership. President Hair was moved to say he felt he was among friends that day and we echoed the sentiment. A lot of our time has been devoted to contract negotiations –special projects for the HPO, the CCMA`s (2nd year that we`ve helped negotiate) and Theatre Aquarius to name a few. This process requires a lot of research and consultations to arrive at the best possible results. Talks are ongoing… Lastly, I`d like to emphasize that we need to get the word out about the Bob Pedler Memorial Fundraiser to maximise our support for this worthy cause. So far we`ve awarded three grants to members who`ve been too hurt or sick to perform. So let`s try to get as many out to this event at Stonewalls as we can. Admission again is ten dollars. Yours in solidarity, Larry Feudo 3 Report of the Secretary-Treasurer Since the last publication of the Libretto on June 1, 2019, we have been extremely busy throughout the summer months with much on our plate including the 101st AFM Convention, the AFM Canadian Conference of Musicians, the OCSM (Organization of Canadian Symphony Musicians) Conference, the Labour Day Parade & Picnic, negotiations of an agreement between the Canadian Federation of Musi- cians (CFM) and the Canadian Country Music Association (CCMA) (Note: the Canadian Country Music Brent Malseed Awards Show will be hosted by the City of Hamilton in 2020). Our Membership Retention and Recruit- ment Program along with a continued quality of services to the members remains our main priority as our membership continues to grow. Since the beginning of 2019, we have had 63 new members join the Hamilton Musicians’ Guild, Local 293 of the American Federation of Musicians and our membership currently stands at 680 active members. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all members of the HMG Executive Board for their hard work and commitment in serving the members of Local 293 of the AFM. The Hamilton & District Labour Council asked all its affiliates to join in a rally on June 7th at Hamilton City Hall to cement a visual representation of this city’s growing resistance to the provincial government cuts to education, health care and other programs. At our Local 293 Gen- eral Membership Meeting on June 3, 2019, we had a lengthy discussion regarding the Conservatives planned cuts to education that will deprive kids of the arts. Doug Ford’s cuts to education will mean arts programs like band, music, theatre and visual arts will be cut, and students will suffer as a result. The Ford Conservatives are slashing $1 billion from education spending over four years by doing things like increasing class sizes and taking away teaching positions. This puts arts classes on the chopping block as schools will struggle to maintain core courses. Not all families can afford to pay thousands of dollars for instruments and private lessons, so if kids don’t get the chance to take music in school, they may never get the chance. No child should be deprived of the opportunity to tap into their creativity through drama, music, theatre and visual arts. The education minister has defended the Ford Conservatives’ callous cuts and their impact on arts education by saying that “students need to have skills in the pathways that are providing jobs.” This comment devalues the more than 269,000 jobs in Ontario’s arts and culture sector, which contributes $26 billion to the province’s economy. It was decided at the General Meeting that the Hamilton Musicians’ Guild should participate and voice our opinion of the impact to the music industry of these cuts by the Conservative Government. On June 7, 2019 members of the Hamil- ton Musicians’ Guild joined the Hamilton & District Labour Council and many other labour organizations including the teachers to pro- test these cuts and voice our concerns. It is a slap in the face for the education minister to dismiss the aca- demic and social value and the vibrancy that the arts and music education bring to the lives of people across Ontario. I shudder to think at how much bleaker our classrooms, and our chil- dren’s futures, will become if the Ford Conservatives plow ahead with their callous education cuts. We need to give kids more oppor- tunities to experience the power of arts and music programs in the education system, not fewer. Voting in elections is one of the most basic expressions of our political opinions. While it is only one ele- ment of democratic engagement, it is often the first activity we think of when it comes to maintaining our de- mocracy. But why vote? Voting is good for your wellbeing. People who vote are more likely to be active in their community, to talk to their neighbours and to volunteer, all of which contribute to overall wellbeing. People who vote also rate themselves as healthier than people who do not vote. Also, you can vote for wellbeing! When choosing a candidate to vote for, consider how you want elected officials to influence policies related to your wellbeing. Political parties rarely talk about wellbeing per se, but wellbeing issues such as education, living standards, environment and healthcare are always part of election platforms. Research Information: Canadian Index of Wellbeing - https://uwaterloo.ca/canadian-index-wellbeing/ 4 Philly vs the Hammer - A Membership Challenge At the 101st AFM Convention, Larry, Janna and I met the newly elected officers of Local 77, Philadelphia, President Ellen Trainer, Vice-President Marjorie Goldberg and Secretary-Treasurer Jarred Antonacci. Ellen, Marjorie and Jarred had just been elected to office in an complete overthrow of the previous executive board of Local 77 in May of 2019. They are very excited to begin working with the members of Local 77 to create a union that works and helps invigorate and strengthen their community.