7/13/17
I. LOCAL 47 BUILDING IS GONE AS OF JULY 15TH
II. LOCAL 47 BATTLES NON-UNION WORK
III. EVENTS
…Absolutely guaranteed anonymity – Former Musician’s Union officer
…The one voice of reason in a sea of insanity – Nashville ‘first call’
scoring musician
…Allows us to speak our minds without fear of reprisal – L.A. Symphonic musician
…Reporting issues the Musicians Union doesn’t dare to mention – National touring musician
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I. LOCAL 47 BUILDING IS GONE AS OF JULY 15TH
Our building will be official gone tomorrow. Many still
don’t buy that the process was legit,.. and there will
always be 1000 ballots unaccounted for. But no
matter, the building is now history.
Those who didn’t fight to save the building and
sat the process out can now choose to either fight
to make sure the Local gets more responsive to
the non-elites, or let the Local continue to wither
with only the greedy and /or self-interested coming
out ahead.
The choice is yours.
THE COMMITTEE
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II. LOCAL 47 BATTLES NON-UNION WORK
Musicians Local 47 Vows To Battle Nonunion Work
“Done In The Shadows”
From Deadline Hollywood.
Saying that its contracts have been “put at serious risk”
by “work done in the shadows,” Local 47 of the American
Federation of Musicians is preparing to launch a campaign
“to ensure that musicians can earn a livable wage working
in Los Angeles.”
AFM Local 47
In a recent communique with its members, the local’s executive
board said more and more musicians “are being asked to record
music for major, well-funded projects without union contracts.
If union contracts are made irrelevant by work done in the
shadows, the floor for pay will drop for both union and non-union
musicians.”
Read the full message below.
In many cases, union musicians are forced to choose between
working nonunion or not working at all. “These employment
practices are especially divisive and pernicious,” the executive
board said, “because they exert enormous pressure on
individual union members.”
The local’s current contract with the major studios doesn’t
expire until next April, but it’s already gearing up for a tough
round of bargaining. One of the challenges it’s facing is the
trend toward using foreign orchestras to score films and TV
shows that were shot right here in Los Angeles. Another
problem is that the AFM’s multibillion-dollar pension plan
is in “critical” condition.
“The actuary certified that for the plan years beginning April
1, 2016, and 2015, respectively, the plan is in ‘critical’ status
under the Pension Protection Act of 2006,” according to the
AFM Pension Plan’s latest financial report. As such, the
Plan’s board of trustees was required by law to adopt a
rehabilitation plan designed to improve its financial health
and to allow it to emerge from critical status.
“We all know what it is like to wonder where your next
call is going to come from or how you are going to pay
your bills,” the executive board said. “No single musician
can stop the forces that undermine our profession, but
as a union we have always been able to push back. We
believe that it is now necessary to take action together.”
Here is the board’s full message to Local 47 members:
To all members of the American Federation of Musicians
Local 47: Our contracts are the heart of our union. Whatever
we achieve through collective action and collective bargaining
is secured because management signs agreements. Our contracts
allow us to make sure employers do what they are obligated to do.
They raise the expectations of all musicians for pay, benefits,
and professional treatment.
Recently, those contracts have been put at serious risk. Members
of Local 47 are being asked to record music for major, well-funded
projects without union contracts. If union contracts are made
irrelevant by work done in the shadows, the floor for pay will
drop for both union and non-union musicians. These employment
practices are especially divisive and pernicious because they
exert enormous pressure on individual union members.
We all know what it is like to wonder where your next call is
going to come from or how you are going to pay your bills.
No single musician can stop the forces that undermine our
profession, but as a union we have always been able to push
back.
We believe that it is now necessary to take action together.
We call upon the Federation and other AFM Locals to unite
with our membership in defense of our union and our
contracts. In the coming months we will be launching a
campaign to uphold our contracts, to recapture work
being done in the shadows and to ensure that musicians
can earn a livable wage working in Los Angeles.
Our goals are:
1. To ensure fair pay, benefits, and professional
treatment for musicians.
2. To protect our union’s ability to bargain, administer
and uphold our contracts.
3. To bring more work under union agreements.
We, the Executive Board of AFM Local 47, are committed
to building a stronger, more successful future together.
– AFM Local 47 Executive Board
[ EC: Well there’s Irony for you. Complaining about non-
union work when members of the board and every
committee at the Local do those very same jobs.
Put very simply, as per recording, “NO buyouts,
NO work” They need to get that.
The world has moved on.
The problem is our recording contracts are obsolete
and wishful thinking that help only a minute fraction
while penalizing 98% of the members, and deteriorating
our industry.
Our long time building gone, trading it for a short term
infusion of money while making no changes to the
ridiculous business model that benefits only a fraction
of even the RMA members, means that once they’ve
pissed away that money there will be no more “rich
relatives” or buildings to turn to.
Either the Union will be forced to change their ways
with buyout contracts or our union recording industry
will eventually cease to exist. Even the blindest adherent
of the status quo knows deep down that the game is over.
The only question left is, will you allow everyone’s future
in the recording industry to die so some can stuff their
pockets a little longer?
As another aside, have you heard the self-congratulations
and back slapping that Local 47 has been giving itself for
securing raises in contracts for area orchestras? Well the
rest of the story is those organizations, when
confronted with the increased fees, simply cut out rehearsals.
In some cases orchestras are now having 1 rehearsal per
concert. So in most cases, with fewer services, the players
are making less than they did before.
But that won’t stop the administration for blowing smoke
professing what a great job they’re doing.
The COMMITTEE
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III. EVENTS
DEAN AND RICHARD
are now at Culver City Elks
the first
Friday of
every month.
7:30pm-10:30pm,
11160 Washington Pl.
Culver City, 90232
310-839-8891
————————————-
LA WINDS JAZZ KATS 584
NO COVER, NO MINIMUM.
Every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month at
Viva Cantina
7:30-10:00.
900 Riverside Drive,
Burbank.
Free parking across the street at Pickwick Bowl.
Come hear your favorite charts played the way
they
should
be.
We are in the back room called
the Trailside Room.
Come on down.
Guaranteed to swing.
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7/11-14/17
SANTA BARBARA JAZZ WORKSHOP
The LA Jazz Society is proud to partner with Kim
Richmond and Kimberly Ford in presenting the
Santa Barbara Jazz Workshop, July 11-14, from
Tuesday afternoon to Friday night.
A faculty of Jazz professionals teach instrumental/
vocal master classes, improvisation, Jazz Listening
(How to listen, and who to listen to.), modern Jazz
combo and Big Band playing with concerts
each late afternoon (open to the public) where advanced students sit in
For more information, visit www.santabarbarajazzcamp.com.
Presented by Kim Richmond and Kimberly Ford
at the Marjorie Luke Theater and SOHO Jazz Club.
You can read all previous offerings at:
http://www.responsible47.com
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7/19/17
GLENDALE NOON CONCERTS
Wed JULY 19, 2017 at 12:10-12:40 pm at the Free Admission
Duos by Dwight Dixon, Katherine Hoover, Peter Maxwell Davies & Payton McDonald:
Flutist Katherine Marsh & Percussionist Timm Boatman.
Sanctuary of Glendale City Church,
610 E. California Ave. (at Isabel St), Glendale, CA 91206.
Jacqueline Suzuki
Curator, Glendale Noon Concerts
818-249-5108
Flutist Katherine Marsh is an active professional musician and teacher. She is currently the solo piccolo player of the Santa Barbara Symphony, principal flute of the San Fernando Valley Symphony Orchestra, and has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, the Santa Barbara Opera and Master Chorale as well as other numerous symphony and chamber ensembles throughout Southern California. Originally from Bowling Green, Ohio, Katherine received a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music Degree from the University of Southern California. Her principal teachers include Bonita Boyd, Samuel Baron, Roger Stevens, and Louise DiTullio. Katherine was accepted into the LA Philharmonic Orchestral Training Program, The Round Top Music Festival, and the Orchestral Institute in Graz, Austria. She has performed in masterclasses with James Galway and Jean Pierre Rampal. This past November Katherine premiered James Domine’s Flute Concerto with the San Fernando Valley Symphony. Katherine’s piccolo and flute playing can be heard in many Star Wars Video games performing with the Skywalker Orchestra. In addition to orchestral work, Katherine is a member of the California Music Teacher’s Association and is a chamber music coach for Junior Chamber Music.
Percussionist Timm Boatman began his career with the Dallas Symphony and Opera. He has performed with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, including recordings conducted by Mehta, Previn, Tilson Thomas and Bernstein. He performed with American Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, Dance Theater of Harlem, Royal Ballet of Covent Garden, Paris Opera Ballet, Stuttgart Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, National Ballet of Cuba, Miami Ballet, New York City Opera, Berlin Opera, San Diego Opera and many others. He played drumset for the ballets The River by Duke Ellington, Fancy Free by Bernstein and the operas Porgy and Bess and Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny, which won two Grammys for LA Opera. He played with the LA Opera Orchestra since the first season. He also played on the recent Grammy winning The Ghosts of Versailles.
UNTIL NEXT TIME, THE COMMITTEE FOR A MORE RESPONSIBLE LOCAL 47