AFM LOCAL 47 Vol. 3 No. 12 December 2017 online HAPPY HOLIDAYS from AFM Local 47 Gear Up for GRAMMYs 2018 Next General Membership Meeting Important voting updates January 22, 2018 & last chance to vote 7:30pm @ AFM Local 47 online ISSN: 2379-1322 Publisher: Editor: Gary Lasley AFM Local 47 Managing Editor: Linda A. Rapka 3220 Winona Ave. Burbank CA 91504 Assistant Layout Editor: Candace Evans p 323.462.2161 www.afm47.org Advertising Manager: Karen Godgart AFM LOCAL 47 EXECUTIVE BOARD Election Board & COMMITTEES Mark Zimoski, chair Overture Online is the official monthly Stephen Green, Scott Higgins, electronic magazine of the American Fed- Titled Officers Marie Matson, Kris Mettala, eration of Musicians Local 47. President John Acosta Paul Sternhagen, Nick Stone Vice President Rick Baptist Secretary/Treasurer Gary Lasley Fair Employment Practices Formed by and for Los Angeles musicians Committee Trustees Ray Brown, Beverly Dahlke-Smith over a century ago, Local 47 promotes and Judy Chilnick, Dylan Hart, protects the concerns of musicians in all Bonnie Janofsky Grievance Committee Ray Brown, Lesa Terry areas of the music business. Our jurisdic- Directors tion includes all counties of Los Angeles Pam Gates, John Lofton, Hearing Representative (except the Long Beach area). With more Andy Malloy, Phil O’Connor, Rimona Seay Bill Reichenbach, Vivian Wolf than 7,000 members, Local 47 negotiates Legislative Committee with employers to establish fair wages Hearing Board Jason Poss, chair Allen Savedoff, chair Kenny Dennis, Greg Goodall, and working conditions for our members. Alan Estes, Jon Kurnick, Jeff Lass, Dan Greco, Lisa Haley, Local 47 officers and staff enforce union Norman Ludwin, Helen Nightengale, Ken Munday, Stephanie O’Keefe contracts, assuring professional standards Marc Sazer Orientation Committee and treatment for our musicians. Delegates to AFM Convention John Acosta, Rick Baptist, Gary Lasley John Acosta, Rick Baptist, Pam Gates, Bonnie Janofsky, Relief Committee Local 47 is affiliated with the American Gary Lasley, Norman Ludwin Gary Lasley, Jack Redman, Federation of Musicians of the United Ed Vodicka, Vivian Wolf States and Canada, the largest organi- 1st Alternate Delegate Phil O’Connor Salary Review Board zation in the world representing the -in Stephen Green, Norman Ludwin, terests of professional musicians, which 2nd Alternate Delegate Lydia Reinebach, Paul Sternhagen, encompasses more than 400 Locals and Vivian Wolf Mark Zimoski represents 85,000 musicians throughout Officers Emeritus Wage Scale Committee North America. Serena Kay Williams, Secretary/Treasurer Judy Chilnick, Bonnie Janofsky, Hal Espinosa, President Phil O’Connor, Danielle Ondarza, Vince Trombetta, President Lydia Reinebach Contents Navigate back to Contents by clicking the “O” links Overture Online / Vol. 3 No. 12 / December 2017 / afm47.org Columns Gear Up for GRAMMYs HAPPY HOLIDAYS 2018! Final-round ballot period ends Dec. 21 Officer Reports from AFM Local 47 At the Local Organizing Letters On the Town Features Final Notes Pasadena Symphony Votes to Authorize Strike Labor News Orchestra continues fight for a fair contract Open Mic Two Legends, One Stage Gig Junction Charles Fox and Paul Williams to be honored at ASMAC Golden Score Awards Health & Welfare Live Corner Buy Smart This Holiday Season Union members receive exclusive discountes from Union Plus In the Studio AFM Local 47 Statement on Sexual Harassment in the Bulletin Board Entertainment Industry If you experience or witness something wrong, speak out Auditions Classifieds Health & Welfare Update Eligibity & Enrollment information for 2018 Advertise President John Acosta SLIDESHOW: FIM workshop for musicians - Havana, Cuba From all of us here at AFM Local 47, I want to wish you and yours a happy and healthy holiday season! It has been an honor to have served you—the membership—through this transformative year, and I am humbled by the continued trust invested in this administration. This past month I had the privilege of representing the AFM and FIM (International Federation of Musicians) at a musicians union confer- ence in Havana, Cuba. The purpose of the conference was to assess which of the several artists organizations in Cuba should represent the country’s musicians at the international level by affiliating with FIM. We spent three days meeting with a variety of organizations representing songwriters, composers, musicians and other enter- tainers. Through our discussions it became evident that musicians in Cuba stand to benefit significantly through their affiliation with FIM, especially when it comes to recapturing revenues due to those musi- cians from the exploitation of their performances in recorded media. Out of the several groups we met with, UNEAC (Union of Artists and Writers of Cuba) seemed to be the best positioned to affiliate with FIM. We had the honor to meet with the president of UNEAC at their headquarters and were briefed on the history and experience of UN- EAC in Cuba since the revolution. I want to thank AFM President Ray Hair and FIM General Secretary Benoît Machuel for the invitation to participate in this historic meeting of U.S., Cuban and European musi- cians union representatives. As we continue to bargain regional orchestra agreements, we find ourselves at a crossroads in several of these negotiations. I recently met with the musicians of the New West Symphony to discuss their contract and some of the challenges presented to our negotiating team due to wayward management. The musicians of the orches- tra are an amazing group of artists who are the heart and soul of the symphony. Many of them have been part of the organization since the orchestra’s inception over 20 years ago and are struggling val- iantly to maintain artistic quality despite management’s lack of focus and energy. We also see challenges in our negotiations with the Pas- adena Symphony, where musicians will no longer stand for promises of future growth after years of anemic or non-existent wage increas- es. The challenges we find in these both of these negotiations are a symptom of a bigger problem. When symphony managements spend more time and money on administration and less time and resources investing in the quality of the orchestra, it’s a giant loss for all. If an orchestra is not compensated properly, musicians will take whatever better-paying gig comes along. With an ever-changing pool of players in the orchestra, the artistic value of the performance suffers— which translates into a less than optimal experience for the audience. With many organizations competing for audiences against a backdrop of increased options pulling on precious dollars, we must seize the op- portunity to present only the very best in artistic excellence. So as we bargain our regional contracts, this administration will continue to fight for good and fair wages, not only because our musicians are worth it, but because we believe that by compensating musicians fairly our orchestras will be able to retain the quality needed to ad- vance our ultimate goal: presenting outstanding musical experiences. Strategic Planning Committees Launched In commencing our strategic planning process, the Executive Board has formed a number of committees whose purpose is to forward the plan’s initiatives. These committees are comprised of the titled offi- cers, Executive Board members, staff, and rank-and-file members. The first committees to begin their work are the Employment Develop- ment Committee, Community Partners and Alliances Committee, and Member Services and Benefits Committee. Other committees that are engaged in furthering our agenda are our Political Committee and Organizing Committee. If you are the volunteering type, want to par- ticipate in your union and would like to work with a dedicated and committed group, please contact my office so we can get you plugged into this significant and historic effort. In Unity, John Acosta SLIDESHOW: President Acosta enjoyed a recent performance of the Bur- bank Philharmonic at the beautiful Ambassador Auditorium. Vice President Rick Baptist Starting on Dec. 11, 2017, we will be hosting round four of the Live TV negotiations here in Los Angeles. The first three rounds were in NYC, and now we will host our fellow union officers from around the country and hopefully finish the negotiation here on our home turf. I feel the main reason that it is great that we are hosting is to show the people across the table that your union is tired of being treated like the ugly stepchild. Our union contract is always the last that they negotiate. They have finished the Directors Guild, Writers Guild, and SAG-AFTRA contracts. All our musicians are very concerned that we are not being treated with the respect we deserve. The primary stumbling block is streaming. The companies are making a fortune off of streaming and off of our musicians’ performances. All the other guilds and unions have a streaming component in their contracts that can bring their members up to 5% or 6% of original content. We, on the other hand, have no streaming provision, and they are trying to keep it that way. In round two they offered 1.2%, truly a slap in the face to all of us. Last month AFM President Ray Hair was in town, joining myself and rank-and-file members Jason Poss and Marc Sazer in visiting the TV show bands of Jimmy Kimmel, James Corden, “The Voice” and “Dancing With the Stars.” The meetings were held to inform, educate and enlist the musicians’ aid in possibly showing up en masse to the negotiations. We have found out over the years that solidarity and just showing up to any negotiations will help in gaining the equal treatment and respect that we truly deserve. Our communications guru Linda Rapka and our organizer Jefferson Kemper will be putting out information to you, my brother and sister musicians, about how you can help in bringing awareness to the media of our plight in these negotiations with the companies and the unfair way that they are treating our amazing musicians.