I saw this on Craig Anderton's site.

This applies to any union member performing services (composer, arranger, copyist, proofreader, instrumentalist, leader, contractor, cutter, editor, or in any other capacity) in Seattle "(1) where the product of the services is intended to result in, or be embodied in, recorded music made outside of the United Sates and Canada and the possessions of either; or (2) for the purpose of producing, editing, or dubbing recorded music except where expressly authorized and covered by a contract with the AFM or when expressly authorized by the AFM."

Here's the union's take on it. Rather important for you Seattle Lowdowners:

LINK TO AFM PDF

Here's a slightly alternative view point:

Film Music Mag\'s special report MUST READ!!

This is an important issue, and it's REALLY important to carefully consider both sides of it.

Interesting.

I understand the AFM's position; how can a union survive if its own members are dealing under the table? The word union is used for a reason; without collective bargaining there cannot be a union.

I'm not in the union, nor do I do any union-type gigs, so I don't plan on joining anytime soon. But I'm sure there are plenty of musicians just trying to make ends meet and will take whatever gig they can get, union or not. They may not have the financial luxury of turning jobs down.

But of course I do see the AFM's side of it, and it's not like they've changed the rules. They're just going to enforce them now.

Very interesting.

A particular point of interest for me was the "non-member" Core Status. Seems to be the best choice for those wanting to be able to land union as well as non-union gigs legaly as long as they aren't worried about union periodicals and voting.

Am I wrong?

the downfall of core status is that you cannot vote in union elections. if you're really serious about the union, you have to choose between the union and working. of course, this appears to be the case everywhere with unions (sorry, i'm cynical because i'm in detroit). for my sympathies, the anonymous contractor in the article said it best:

i know it's hard to look at a paycut, particularly a significant one, when you have a mortgage payment. but we see it in detroit all the time. the union guys seem content to go down with the ship. and it's frustrating for me, because ultimately i'm in the ship, too. but i'd rather take a paycut than a jobcut. maybe it's just me.

robb.

Solid points, robb.

There is a fine line in collective bargaining and having good leadership is the key to finding a balance between fair compensation and a healthy sector/trade economy and environment. Otherwise, the entire ship will indeed sink.

One of my experiences of being in a union was during college; working for the Amalgamated Meatpackers Union while I was stocking shelves at a local grocery. I worked part-time, just like every other new employee. The store refused to hire any new full-time employees. All of the full-time employees had been working there for 20-30 years. Some of the older guys made $45/hour, $60/hour for working the overnight, and close to $100/hour for working on Sundays.

The union had negotiated to keep works hired before a certain date whole, but new employees would had much lower benefits, pay, and rights. The old guard employees who were much more involved in running the union took care of themselves, and the employers figured they could deal with a certain class of tenured employees that would get overpaid since they would all eventually die. Funny, I was the only one in my "class" of employee that understood what had actually happened, most of the other guys did not care.

I did not have a good experience with that union, but I do not think all unions are evil.

The AFM is a strange situation; all these contracted gigs make it difficult. How do you control such a thing?

I am not sure there is going to be a good answer.

OT: Wonder what they were doing to earn $100/hour. Sounds like a rumor.

It was not a rumor. They were doing the same job I was; putting cans of soup on shelves. Pay scale for full-time employees with that number of years of service working on Sunday was that rate. Since the schedule was determined by seniority, all of the old-timers picked Sundays to work. They also all worked the overnight because of the pay.

One of the guys I worked with (this was in 1995) had and undergraduate degree from Rutgers and finished two years of medical school back in the 1970s while working for the local A&P; he decided to quit school because he had a kid on the way. He said it was the best decision he ever since he had likely made more, all things considered, than he would have if he had pursued medicine.

Again, the employers made the decision to deal with that small class of employees that would eventually die off; it was the cost of doing business. Instead of recreating that class of employee, they hired all part-time employees so they would never again have to deal with career-employees.

Wow. I'd be working Sundays too.

Well at the risk of getting political which is supposed to be a no no here....

Unfortunately the Uk has seen some similar activity in the telephone support in the banking and IT sectors.

The banks and IT support companies have closed their Help desks in the UK and moved to India and other areas where the expertise is good, but the local pay required to employ good quality people is low, around 1/30th. of what it would be in the UK. However after about 3 years of this the companies are starting to come back for 3 reasons.

1) Regarding Banks. The amount of money required to corrupt a banking employee and obtain personal details is obviously lower and a large amout of Identity and other fraud is taking place.
2) Although the operators speak good English, it is impossible to understand the accents.
3) UK people percieve that these are Uk jobs that are being stolen and are hanging up and changing Banks or IT companies.

I can't see how these three would relate to music, apart from cinema Audiences in the US boycoting films that have had their music recorded outside the US. Everyone is now in a Global Economy which will take maybe 10-20 years to stabilise out so that jobs around the world command the same levels of pay. In the mean time there will be hardships around for those who can't demonstate that the job they do has the added value required to command higher pay. Or the ensuing recession brings the cost of living down.

I work in the building industry. These has been a noticeable influx of cheap Eastern European labour. The low paid, low skilled jobs are suffering the worst. A cleaner in the UK is a millionaire in the Eastern Europe. On the upside, many English people are buying up cheap property in the old Eastern Block, which is pushing up the house prices and cost of living there so the circle will even out pretty quickly.

TimR,

These are similar to trends in the US.

I agree, let us keep this civil. Making observations rather than ranting is key. I think it is important to understand why this is happening and trying to understand what each side is trying to accomplish.

The biggest issue is the backend payments that the scores recorded on an AFM agreements have a pension contribution and special payments fund that continue as long as the product is making money. These AFM agreements also have a Health & Wellfare payment. Musicians get to receive payments for many years after a film is released. My wife is the guitar player in "The Lost Boys" movie. She still gets a payment every year for her work on that film. The payments are smaller now but she still receives something. Musicians are also paid for other uses of the film. When it is released on video, now DVD there is a payment along with releases to TV including agreements that cover network TV, cable TV, etc. The musicians of the Seattle Symphony decertified and that opened that opportunity to take that work for just the up front payment. What I said here may have been said in the links at the start of this thread. It's late a night and didn't take the time to read those although I've most likely have read the union side in the past. Do we really think that the extra money that goes to the musicians on the back end are keeping producers from still making some fairly big dollars? Everyone must also take into consideration that in recent years the AFM has introduced lower paying agreements for lower budget productions. I'm sure there will most likely be more discussion on this issue but I've got to call it a night. For any of you that don't know I should say that I work for the AFM as the Field Staff Representative for the West. I just finished a very long day working with a new officer in Missoula, Montana and have to get up early in the morning to drive to Bozeman. I must say that Montana is one beautiful state.

Wally

Thanks for adding to the discussion, Wally. I was hoping you'd explain your take on it and clarify a few points.

Hmmmm . . . Some work in prague and bulgaria, huh ??

Just remember this, you have the right to refuse a contract and the right to choose to waive your rights in a contract.

That is why i do not support unions. It's a surrender of power to a single entity of bureaucrats who contribute nothing to society

The AFM has Players' Conferences one of them being the Recording Musicians Association and is comprised of rank and file members. RMA is involved in a substantial way in electronic media negotiations including film negotiations.

Wally

Seattle: that's pretty close to Canada, isn't it? Lots of TV programs and films made there? I assume there must be scores (pun intended) of musicians benefitting from all that work? So I would think if I wanted to find work as a musician I'd do better to move to Canada than stay in Seattle.

Not that I'm against unions, I paid my dues for several years at my day job, but when I was starting out as a bass player I received more discouragement from my local AFM branch than nearly anywhere else. Their attitude (in the 70s) seemed to be "you're not qualified to be a musician, but if you want to work outside the union, go ahead, we don't care because there's not much money in it for us". From the looks of this, it seems that they're finally waking up to what the rest of the US working class is already experiencing: outsourcing. And frankly, I've seen better examples of solidarity and support for apprentices in the electrical, plumbing and carpentry unions.

Do I support outsourcing? No, but I have no control of that outside of the voting booth. Do I support the AFM policy? Well, they haven't supported me in 30+ years and if they want my support they'd better send me an e-mail explaining why I'd be better off paying them dues to represent me. I already have a health and pension plan, so I don't see the advantage.

What I have seen in New Jersey are union reps going into selected small bars and fining the owners for allowing a non-union cover band to work there. Has it stopped those bars (and othere the union hasn't visited) from hiring non-union cover bands? I think you know the answer already.

So what am I saying? If the AFM is willing to support all working musicians, not just those they choose to represent, then I'd be happy to be counted in their ranks.

Sorry to be the devil's advocate on this one, but I tried to join them a few times and was rejected. So yeah, it's kinda personal on my part and doesn't reflect those of you who've been treated right by your respective locals. I just wish the New Jersey locals would get with the program.

Fred, I understand your feelings on this. Many of us in the current union leadership know how bad the actions of the business reps were in the 70's. There is part of the Taft-Hartley Act that address musicians that work in clubs as independend contractors. Once that become public knowledge the business agents of that time had to stop forcing those who worked in clubs, restuarants and hotels to join the union. As one can see from your feelings it wasn't a good thing for the union since over thirty years later that perspective by you and others still exists. There are a lot of good people that are now officers of AFM Locals throughout the U.S. & Canada, many who get paid very little for running their locals but are there as an advocate for their members. The AFM now has a Freelance Director named Paul Sharpe who works out of the AFM Canadian office who has a big heart and a lot of passion for the freelance musician. Paul created the gopromusic.com site and recently created web page templates for both the U.S. and Canadian locals to help give them a web presence. Most locals already have pages but he did this for the small locals that don't have the knowledge or budget to do this. We have to remember that with any organization there are people who have it together and those who don't. Officers are elected at a local level and there are those that run great progressive locals and those that are there for the wrong reasons. After this many years I would hope that one would look at the AFM with an open mind, do the research and see if it could now be a benefit to them.

Wally