UDR on the AFM

The latest issue of Union Democracy Review, the newsletter of the Association for Union Democracy, has an article I wrote about the AFM Convention. It's not exactly the "final thoughts" on the Convention that I promised I'd post here and didn't, but it's close enough:

The contemporary era of the American Federation of Musicians began with two events, both related to the fact that only a minority of the union's members are actually full time musicians. One was the revolutionary Roehl Report of the late 1980s which proposed to strengthen the independent role and power of the player conferences, the caucuses that represent musicians covered by union collective bargaining agreements (CBAs). The other was a financial "reform" plan submitted by a Blue Ribbon Committee and adopted by the 1991 convention; it proposed to alleviate the union's budgetary problems by increasing basic membership dues and thereby allowing more of the work dues to support administation of the CBAs. The June 2010 AFM convention in Las Vegas, its 98th, will be remembered for its unambiguous reaffirmation of the Roehl report and its first step toward ending the current financial model.

The headline event at the recent convention was the defeat of the incumbent president Tom Lee and four of his allies on the International Executive Board by a group led by Ray Hair, president of the Dallas-Ft. Worth local. Incumbent officers in the AFM rarely lose bids for re-election, and almost never by the kind of margins won by Hair's group. This electoral earthquake had many causes, but the chief reason was the delegates' desire to end the war between Tom Lee and the player conferences, the internal AFM caucuses that represent the interests of AFM members working under union contract in the recording, symphonic, and musical theater workplaces.

Lee, who had been elected in 2001 and reelected in 2007, the longest-serving AFM president in almost 40 years, strongly believed that locals were the only legitimate representatives of members within the AFM. This concept had been supplanted in the past few decades by the rise of the player conferences and their critical, albeit semi-official, consultative role in setting AFM policy, as proposed by Bill Roehl in 1989. Lee's relationship with the Recording Musicians Association, one of the player conferences, began to deteriorate shortly after his election in 2001 and, within a few years, had turned into open warfare. After his re-election in 2007, the war began to spread to the symphonic conferences as well, a conflict dramatically escalated by his refusal early this year to hire the symphonic conferences' recommended candidate for the position of Director of the Symphonic Services Division, even though the recommended candidate met the criteria he himself had laid down -- which his eventual hire didn't.

At the same time, Lee's allies in the Nashville and New York City locals (both major centers of CBA activity within the AFM) were defeated by local insurgent groups, at least in part due to their alliances with Lee. These defeats guaranteed that a major bloc of votes that had supported Lee in previous re-election bids would go against him this time. Dissatisfaction with Lee amongst sufficient additional local officers and the war with recording musicians gave Hair and his allies more than enough votes for a clear mandate to end the war and Lee's counter-revolution against the role of the player conferences.

But almost as important was what the convention refused to do, which was to simply provide the AFM more revenue from locals and musicians in the form of increased per capita dues and work dues on recording work. The International Executive Board's recommendations for substantial increases in both revenue streams met an avalanche of opposition from both large and small locals; an unusual alliance in recent AFM history.

What passed instead was a resolution directing the IEB to propose to the next convention substantive structural changes in how the AFM does business, as well as a very creative financial package. This package, which was proposed by the Joint Law and Finance Committee after consultations with the newly-elected president and the RMA delegates, did away with the much-hated fee on payments to recording musicians from the secondary market funds (the so-called "back-end" payments), substituting for it a flat fee to be charged recording musicians. What was so innovative was that the flat fee would be negotiated after the convention with the Electronic Media Services Steering Committee -- essentially the elected representatives of the recording musicians -- and would require ratification by the musicians who would pay the fee, establishing for the first time in AFM history a source of revenue for the national union requiring direct approval by rank-and-file members.

The significance of the defeat of the IEB financial proposal was two-fold. It was the first time since 1991 that an AFM convention had flat-out refused to approve a significant increase in revenue going to the national office, and demonstrated that most delegates were frustrated by the national union's continuing need for more money when their own locals were having to tighten their belts. More important for the long term, it marked a tacit acknowledgement that the concepts underlying the 1991 financial reforms had become unsustainable.

Those earlier reforms established a hefty per capita dues to fund the AFM's general operations while establishing national work dues on most work under AFM contract to finance the presidential departments dealing with that work. Unfortunately, in the two decades since those reforms, membership has shrunk to such an extent that more and more of the nominally dedicated work dues for those departments went to support general operations while the presidential departments were short-changed. The effect was to put an increasingly disproportionate financial burden on the relatively few members of the union who work fulltime as musicians while still obligating locals to charge membership dues which made union membership increasingly unattractive to members who did little or no work. The convention's rejection of the IEB financial proposal showed that the delegates believed that any further increases in either per capita or work dues would push significant numbers of members past the breaking point.

Proposals from the International Executive Board to reduce the number of rank-and-file members on the board of the AFM Employers Pension Fund and to substantially increase compensation for the three full-time officers of the national union died with a whimper when they were withdrawn by the IEB without ever coming to the floor -- a significant victory in particular for the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians, the largest of the symphonic player conferences, which had mounted a campaign amongst its members against the two proposals.

None of the serious external challenges faced by the AFM and its members were ameliorated by anything the 98th convention did. But the convention did face a clear choice between two philosophies of union governance. Fortunately for the future of the AFM and its members, the convention decisively chose the more democratic path.

Comments

[Antony Cooke]

Coolhandluke (who hardly disguises her identity) should not be using this post about what has happened within the AFM to do Local 47 electioneering. Much as I do think she has done fine work as Treasurer/Secretary (she probably has my vote), what does any of this bitter rhetoric and self promotion have to do with the subject at hand? I hate it when she has made it so personal, as if no-one else serving on the Local 47 Board has any integrity or career success but her. It's not as if her arguments are not well thought out, or would not make great debate; there are two sides to everything, and I would like to better understand both sides. But, please not here. We need unity now, not more wars. Please save Local 47 matters for the appropriate forum.

[Gordon Stump]

I thought anonymous posts were not allowed here?

Gordon Stump, Local 5

[coolhandluke]

An Independent Voice For A Balanced Board
I love my job and do it exceedingly well. It seems the very qualities that have brought me success in the Music Biz and then the Union Biz -- namely talent, hard work, intelligence, energy, creativity, integrity, gumption, thinking-speaking-writing independently, etc -- have now placed me out of the comfort zone of our Local 47 President.

It's a shame that the President of Local 47, who now sits on the AFM International Executive Board and as a Trustee on the AFM Pension Fund and is running unopposed for re-election here in LA, won't share these successes with the very folks (like me) who helped him attain these positions. Now that Local 47 is appreciated by the AFM, and expected to help find financial and other solutions for our Union, I especially want to participate. The challenges are daunting, the process will be long and difficult, but worth the effort. Our leadership should be committed to tackling tough issues with enthusiasm. We should welcome diversity and divergent opinions on our Executive Board because dynamic discussions and innovative actions lead to successful solutions.

So don't buy into the Trombetta Team rhetoric. First of all, it's always easier and cheaper to run on a "ticket" or "slate". Some members of Vince's ticket may be attached for expedience rather than ideology, and will vote, if not run, independently. There's an ample field of candidates, including incumbents who have rejected the Trombetta Team and have chosen to run as independents. I had considered an independent run, but was spared agonizing over loyalty when none was shown towards me. If you visit the Vince Trombetta website, you'll find Vince "begging" Local 47 members to vote his entire team. Ironically, that team contains replacements drafted when his "begging" of current Executive Board Members was to no avail. Ah, politics.

Let me give you some background on why Gary Lasley is Vince's choice for Secretary/Treasurer. Weeks before the AFM convention Vince submitted a package of proposals to change the Local 47 bylaws. Most had to do with the Executive Board and power issues, like those overwhelmingly defeated at our most recent General Membership Meeting. But the one that was like an arrow through my heart was a bylaw change further restricting performances by Titled Officers. By changing the word "the" to "any" in the following: Local 47 Titled Officers "shall not accept or perform any competitive musical engagements coming under the jurisdiction of the Local…", becoming: "jurisdiction of any Local…" he meant to stop me from performing anywhere.

Fast forward to our current election. Note the word ANY in Gary's first and foremost campaign statement, "I pledge that I will not accept ANY performing engagements within or out of Local 47's jurisdiction while I am serving as your Secretary/Treasurer." His willingness to put down his bass was either an opportunistic move to ingratiate himself, or Vince's price of admission to the Trombetta Team. Either way, I call it a sell out. Gary's signed on to be a "yes man" for anything Vince puts forward, including expenses and expenditures (I'm tough on that).

Several factors could have motivated Vince's proposed bylaw change: local or national criticism, or maybe because performing didn't work out for him once he became VP a few years ago. My union career path towards becoming Secretary/Treasurer was with the understanding that, as I approached playing retirement, I'd have at least a couple of good (out of jurisdiction) orchestras where I was tenured in which to play occasional evenings and weekends, and for some pet projects here or there for fun and artistic satisfaction. This would also keep me as a union officer in real touch with work place issues and colleagues. I felt betrayed. It was apparent he cared more about a few outside opinions than my wellbeing as his teammate, or the longstanding bylaw. He ended up withdrawing that proposal under Legislative Committee pressure, and also because a couple of my colleagues offered creative counter resolutions to address the question of when and how Titled Officers could perform. Vince pushed them to withdraw their resolutions.

And what's wrong with wanting to play? That's what we do as musicians. It's not a matter of money. Our members know this. What they may not know, however, is that when I first became Secretary/Treasurer, I called a meeting with President Trombetta and Counsel Levy to explore the possibility of a financial adjustment to my salary if and when I performed in the jurisdiction, in the hopes of finding a fair and creative way to best serve Local 47 and my goal to be an OFFICER who is still a MUSICIAN. I believe we need to promote the concept of artist-employee, artist-officer etc. Other entertainment unions do. This thinking was too out of the box at the time -- my willingness to account for every moment of my time and sacrifice money (in an effort to remain an occasional performer) was and remains too threatening to officers who are done playing and don't want their time monitored too closely.

Interestingly enough, Vince, John and Gary have convinced the "Old Boys" (past presidents Hal, Bill and Max) and my predecessor (Serena) that I'm not a "full time" Secretary/Treasurer. In fact, I spend more time at Local 47 than either Vince or John (or past presidents for that matter). I arrive early, stay late, take work home every night and weekends, and am available to members 24/7.

"All About Eve" – no, all about Gary and John …
I haven't mentioned VP Acosta. I'll only say that John aspires to inherit or seize the throne someday. That's what he and Gary have in common. They both want to take over the positions of people they work with. I worked side by side with Serena for years, content to assume her position upon her retirement. There was no need to kiss up. In contrast, Gary schmoozed all summer to secure past officers' endorsements. That's just not me. My successes in music and the union business have not come that way. When I became Secretary/Treasurer I handed Gary my former jobs, training him as Hearing Representative and Hearing Secretary. That didn't keep Gary from going for my job now. John will have to wait … until next election?

It seems obvious that Vince, Gary and John need to discredit me to justify Gary's place on their ticket. The ironic thing is that everybody at the Local counts on me -- the members, staff, officers, accountants, lawyers, committees etc. Everybody needs something and I seem to be able to provide it. I just go in to work and don't stop until I do what needs to be done each and every day. Long, busy hours are OK by me. Over the years I have amassed a huge body of knowledge and experience that truly helps run the Local with spirit and efficiency. I have already brought vision, innovation and inspiring leadership to this Local and will continue to be an independent creative voice in our future.

[David Finck]

I must say that Antony Cooke has said it absolutely perfectly.

[medieval clothing]

Dissatisfaction with Lee amongst sufficient additional local officers and the war with recording musicians gave Hair and his allies more than enough votes for a clear mandate to end the war and Lee's counter-revolution against the role of the player conferences.

[Bruce Bouton]

I hope that the real truth comes out about Tom Lee's policies and the damage that they caused. The agreements that he made without any input from the working musicians are going to have financial repercussions for the rest of our careers.
Thank goodness righteousness finally prevailed.

[Antony Cooke]

Worse was the outright vilification of those who had so much to lose, and who had been paying the freight in totally disproportionate amounts - all while the AFM worked to effectively destroy the workplaces of those very musicians. It's hard to remember a union that sent out such hostile signals about its own members to the extent that they were sitting ducks for management to attack all that had been won so hard, all while the AFM worked behind the scenes to gut every contract possible, and politicize every appointment, without ever the involvement of the people concerned who were actually doing the work. There was never even the slightest recognition that perhaps the musicians in question represented the best in what they do, who risked all by relocating to a few big pools to try their hand with the big fish. Such employment opportunities were never going to come to Podunc Iowa (no offense intended), in spite of the promises made. Instead, just total disrespect is what the full-time pro got - for 9 years - such as "rich pricks', who got where they are by 'dint' of luck and connections, and especially a publicly stated desire to "take those LA guys down". What a union. And break-ins to the computers of Local 47 to boot for the West Coast Office. Lovely. Meanwhile, RMA, a reognized Player Conference, was shut out of everything, including the AFM's own publication. Old agreements were always broken, not one ever recognized. Clearly the AFM was on a path to the graveyard within a very short time, with very uncertain replacement not even in view. And Phil Ayling pilloried as the bad guy to distract for the real bad guys. Right out of the communist manifesto. And more red herrings to keep the masses riled up and on the wrong trail.

But what a magnificent outcome, with someone now at the helm of huge integrity and purpose - may not do everything every part of the AFM will like (be default we all have to compromise), but who will always seek to do the very best thing possible, and always with the input of those concerned. True leadership; true vision; true courage; someone all AFM members can get behind and lead us out of the pathological mess that Lee and his cohorts got us into. Thank you Ray Hair. You will be the one who steered the AFM back from the abyss, and to whom all AFM members ultimately will be grateful too.