At 10:06 am, Ray announced that the Joint Law and Finance meeting was running late, and that we'd wait to convene until they got here. They got here; Ray called the meeting to order at 10:26 am.
Ray asked the staff to close the doors for the memorial service. He turned the meeting over to Bruce Fife f
(placeholder due to inability to blog during service; more later)
Memorial Service ended at 10:58; standing ovation for orchestra
Ray introduced Brad Eggen, Finance chair;
Canadian Conference donates $500 to BSO musicians
Some additions to list of names
Brad Eggen: Recommendation No. 1 (IEB dues recommendation) (Recommendation No.1 is that there be no dues increases). Committee heard from outside analysts on state of AFM finances; positive but not overwhelmingly so. Some caution needed. We explored needs of members, possibility of dues reductions, but rejected that. Committee concluded to recommend that Recommendation be approved.
Ray called for discussion; there being none, Recommendation 1 was passed on a voice vote (one no?)
Ray asked Fort Worth Symphony musicians and organizers to come to dais.
Committee chair (name?) talked about "growth not cuts" campaign; began at brainstorming session of committee. All began in 2010, when musicians accepted 8-week cut in season. We needed much more public support, so stepped up outreach to audiences. Had post-concert meet-and-greets, benefit concerts, and became more visible. Started a war chest and joined the Stoke Fund. In 2015, management presented regressive proposal of cuts and health insurance increases. "There's just no money in Ft. Worth." "We've left no stone unturned."
We needed to step up our game even more; did leafleting, flash mobs, visited local downtown businesses, gave speeches from the stage. Management couldn't stop us once we were on stage. As time went on, audience enthusiasm built to standing ovations.
Most important action leading up to strike was an open letter to community, asking for signatures. (Recognized Matt Plummer, former AFM organizer) Had enough names in the end for two scrolls that extended across the width of the stage (4,500 signatures). (Nice video presentation about presentations for strike and strike itself; hopefully will be made more widely available).
Talked about honking campaign, $109 campaign (will add more about these later). We think our connections to the community were responsible for the $750K donation from an anonymous donor. We presented that to the mediator, she went and talked to management and the strike was over after 4 months. The unity shown by our colleagues was inspiring.
FWSO musicians pledge $5,000 to BSO musicians. Thanked AFM organizers Todd Jehlen and Stuart Williams. Also thanked Ray Hair, who came down frequently to support us and gave some incredible speeches, walked the picket line, but also built the foundation for our work as president of DFW local over the years.
Standing ovation.
Ray introduced musicians from Boise Philharmonic to talk about organizing campaign (took a break at this point; sorry). At end, announced birth of Local 423 of the AFM (new local). Immediate standing ovation.
Ray introduced Diversity Committee, Lovie Smith-Wright chairperson. Thanked all locals that participated in Diversity Awards. Made awards to Gilbert Sedeño, someone else whose name I didn't catch.
Ray introduced Dan Cerveny, president of Omaha Local, and Jim Schuler, blues guitarist and member of DFW local. Described situation when his band was playing in Omaha and got stiffed by venue owner. Contacted Ray, who reached out to Dan, who helped us a lot. Dan told how he'd gotten in touch with the Central Labor Council and managed to cause all kinds of trouble for the venue until the venue paid Jim.
Brad Eggen, chair of Finance. Recommendation 2 (Emergency Relief Fund) (diverts $0.10 of per cap dues to maintain the EFR at a balance of $100,000). Finance Committee recommends adoption of Recommendation 2. Brad described how Fund was new, started in response to California fire disasters.
Ray called for discussion. No discussion, passed on unanimous voice vote.
Brad Eggen presented Recommendation No. 4 (ROPA ERF loan repayments) (increases penalties for failure to repay loans from Fund). Finance Committee recommends adoption of Recommendation No. 4.
Ray called for discussion. No discussion. Passed on voice vote.
Brad Eggen: Recommendation No. 8 (clarifies maximum payable work dues locally). Committee recommends adoption as a clarification of what was intended.
Ray called for discussion. Local 369 questions whether it actually does clarify. Brad clarifies that it does. Local 369 suggested change; moves amendment to strike the word "minimum" in Line 7; seconded. Amendment passes by voice vote. No more discussion on Recommendation as amended; passes on voice vote.
Brad: Resolution No. 4 (Canada-to-US Border Crossing) (requires resources to "advocate for better conditions for Canadian musicians traveling for work to the US). Finance committee opposes adoption. Brad explained the history of how the AFM tried to address how hard it was for Canadian musicians to work in the US as opposed to the reverse, but committee was concerned about ambiguity in language in Resolution re what the IEB is actually supposed to do.
Ray called for discussion. Local 149 (proponents); we were hoping to submit a substitute resolution, but Finance hasn't had time to consider yet. Ray and Brad confer. Ray asked for permission of body to withdraw Resolution 4 and to have Finance look at substitute. No objection from the floor; Resolution 4 will return to committee.
Ray introduced Eddie Bayens chair of Law committee. talked about Emergency Recommendation No. 2 (adds a code of conduct to AFM bylaws). Will be considered later.
These 4-hour sessions without breaks are really too long, especially
Eddie: Recommendation No. 6 (technical change to Article 11 Section 2(b)). Eddie described it as a "grammatical improvement." Ray called for discussion; none. Passed by voice vote.
Eddie reminded the IEB that they are authorized to make grammatical changes on their own.
Eddie presented Resolution 2 (Touring musical theater orchestra size). Law committee presents amended Resolution 2. (Basically turns it into a "best efforts" directive). No debate, rather surprisingly. Passes on voice vote.
Eddie presents Resolution No. 5 (Eligibility requirements for Federation office) (requires continuous 2 years membership in order to be nominated for AFM office). Law committee recommends adoption. No discussion. passes on voice vote.
(In practice, no one gets nominated without having been a member for a while anyway: I wonder why the Canadian Conference proposed this.)
Eddie presente Resolution No. 10 (Altering CBAs only through collective bargaining). Eddie described it as a response to an individual local situation. No collective agreement is perfect; this bylaw is too restrictive and counter-productive. Committee agrees that no local officer should make deals with management without consulting orchestra committee. Also a problem for AFM agreements; hard to consult bargaining unit or even determine it simply to make a small adjustment to keep work. Law committee recommends against adoption. No discussion; defeated on voice vote.
Eddie presented Resolution No 11 (Dues and fees required of members). Committee needed clarification regarding what the problem really was; came to feel resolution was intended to address individual problem, but would affect all orchestra committees negatively. Committee recommends against adoption, but also suggests that SSD might establish some requirements regarding how committees handle their internal funds.
Discussion: John O'Connor (proponent). In order to appeal to Law committee to formalize their SSD recommends. Ray interpreted as motion to refer to IEB. Motion defeated. Resolution 11 defeated.
Resolution 12; Proponent requests permission to withdraw and for body to later condor emergency resolution on the topic. Withdrawal approved.
Chair of Measures and Benefits re Recommendation No 3 (Alternate delegate to AFL-CIO Convention). Amended wording. Martin Andersen suggested a change in wording (actually to language not under consideration). Approved. Amended recommendation No 3 adopted by voice vote.
Chair of Measures and Benefits re Recommendation No. 8 (AFM printout of local rosters) (deleting requirement for ST to send each local printed rosters every month). Recommends adoption of Recommendation No. 8. No debate, adopted on voice vote.
Tammy Noreka (org and leg committee chair). Recommendation No. 10 (Resolutions and candidate statements submission deadline) (technical non-substantive change in language). A surprising amount of discussion regarding language. Call for question; approved. Recommendation No. 10 approved by voice vote.
Tammy Noreka (org and leg committee chair). Resolution No. 7 (ROPA ERF orchestra participation eligibility update) (appears to be technical non-substantive change). Adopted on voice vote.
Brad Eggen; testimony on Resolution 8 will be taken at break.
Ray adjourned the meeting at 1:28 for lunch.
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