Congratulations to

DEBRA COWAN and ERIC ERICKSON

on becoming Vested in the AFM Pension!

Welcome new members!

Brodie West

Tom Kaszulanis (Kastle)

Meredith Bates

Tesser (Theresa) Call

Greg Royal

Salvatore Rosselli

Nicolas Cazares

EMERGENCY RELIEF FUND

One of the ways that Local 1000 can work for its members when times get tough is through our Emergency Relief Fund (ERF).

This is funding that has been set aside to provide up to $1000
in a no-interest, pay-it-back-when-you-can loan to members who
demonstrate financial need.

Learn more on the webpage.

By John O’Connor

The June AFM convention brought big changes to our union. Ray Hair, President of the Dallas/Fort Worth Local was elected president of the American Federation of Musicians in a contested election against incumbent Tom Lee. Hair has been a supporter of Local 1000 from its beginnings and is an enthusiastic champion of the organizing model of unionism.

Elected Vice-President in a contest with incumbent Harold Bradley was Bruce Fife from the Portland, OR Local. Fife pioneered the Fair Trade Music campaign in Portland which encourages venues to sign agreements to treat musicians fairly.

Elected to the 5-seat International Executive Board (IEB) were Tino Gagliardi, president of Local 802 in New York City, with a proven record for fighting for democracy and openness in the union and David Pomeroy, who successfully ran a reform ticket to unseat a long-rooted power base in the Nashville Local.

The newly-elected IEB has a majority of members who support organizing and who are likely to lend a helping hand to Local 1000’s agenda, where for the last 9 years the Local stood alienated against the Federation’s leadership, largely due to Lee’s animosity.

In past years there have been upward of 100 resolutions and recommendations that have come to the convention floor. This year there were only 25 recommendations and a paltry 18 resolutions. Among the recommendations was one to raise dues. Both the recommendation and a substitute recommendation failed to pass muster of an unimpressed delegation wary of more-of-the-same.

A tax on special payments which was voted on several conventions ago was lifted. A compromise dues resolution was passed only after new leadership elected, which would reach into the pockets of recording musicians who reached a particular level of income. But any dues increase would have to be ratified by the players affected.

The AFM moves forward with serious financial woes and continued membership decline. But with new leadership who understand that change for the Union in the way of presenting a completely new face to musicians in North America, there is much to be hopeful for.  Local 1000, as the Local that has represented such a face, is likely to have its voice heard by the Federation leadership for the first time in years.

Message from President McCutcheon

Earlier this month, following heavy rains in the Southeast, Tennessee’s Cumberland River rose seventeen feet above flood stage.  It is in one of the largest non-hurricane weather disasters in US history.  The flooded area in and around Nashville, according to Local 1000 member Janis Ian, is “the size of New Jersey.”  Thirty people died. The Grand Old Opry’s stage was under two feet of water.  The Country Music Hall of Fame was flooded.  Symphony Hall was decimated losing not only its performance space but countless instruments.  And, in the wake of the Times Square bombing and the Gulf oil spill, little has found its way into daily news reports.  Some of this is due, undoubtedly, to the extraordinary local efforts at recovery and relief.  But more is needed.

AFM Local 257 in Nashville recently underwent a remarkable shake-up in leadership.  The result is a very new Nashville Local, one that has reached out to Local 1000 in hopes of forging important and fraternal alliances to help create a very new AFM International.  President Dave Pomeroy and I jointly hosted our booth at the International Bluegrass Music Association conference in Nashville last year.  He signed on as a co-sponsor on to our AFM Convention recording resolution.  The ties between the Nashville Local and Local 1000 are more than ones of union solidarity, they are close, they are personal.  We have many members living in and around Nashville.  This disaster is our own.

Local 257 has set up a relief fund at: http://www.nashvillemusicians.org/?pg=news&newsId=36.  We encourage all Local 1000 members to be generous and compassionate in their support of this fund.  Our sisters and brothers in Nashville need our help.  They’ve always been there for us.  Now it’s our turn.

Hi, Here is my playlist for my initial substitute DJ show on WPRB,

I did a special segment on local 1000, talked a little about the local and directed folks to the website.

As it stands now, I will be doing about 4-5 shows including the Sunday night Labor Day Show where 90 percent of the artists will be local 1000 members. Solidarity. Andyblue  (Questions?  andyblue@verizon.net)

Here’s an opportunity we don’t get every day!

Union Song Contest Brothers & Sisters in Song

Write a song about what you like about your union and/or your Union Plus benefits. Here’s your chance to support the labor movement and impress your fellow union members with your musical talent.

$2000 Prize

Union-themed ringtones are also welcome.

Sponsored by UnionPlus

Visit here for more details:
unionsongcontest.org

Clearwater Festival Logo

Mark Lattanzi has “a bunch of Clearwater Festival tix” for sale at a great discounted price (30% off!) on the website below.  Clearwater is a FAIR FOLK Venue.

http://www.valleygeneralstore.com/product_info.php?cPath=36&products_id=531

On behalf of the membership of American Federation of Musicians Local 1000, I want to extend our condolences to the families of the miners lost in the disaster at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, West Virginia. The twenty-five miners who lost their lives, the four still missing, their families, and their entire community are in our prayers and in our thoughts.

But condolences are not nearly enough of a response to this preventable tragedy. Men and women working in twenty-first century America should not have to worry that there is no recourse for their concerns about workplace safety. For years the Upper Big Branch Mine and its owner, Massey Energy Company, have been cited for numerous violations, especially for high levels of methane and coal dust, the frequent cause of the kinds of explosions that occurred this Monday at UBB.

Even in news reports today surviving UBB miners asked for anonymity when relating past safety concerns for fear of losing their jobs. Non-union miners have no protection in such matters. And non-union mines have no leverage for pressing for the safety of those who mine our coal. To put this into perspective, the miners who died at the Sago, WV mine in January 2006 were working in a non-union mine on a federal holiday. There wasn’t a union miner in America working that day until they reported for the rescue team at Sago.

Nor are words or outrage a sufficient response to West Virginia’s latest sorrow. We at Local 1000 pledge our membership in support of organizing drives in our nation’s coalfields. We will be there both in spirit and in person to walk the lines, to play at the rallies, and to support our sisters and brothers in their efforts to save their families, save their jobs, and, as has been proven to be literally the case, save their lives.

We call on all our brothers and sisters in the American Federation of Musicians, all union members across this great nation, and all people of good will to pledge the same. We can help prevent future disasters by helping workers organize and win the kind of protection only unions can give working people. It’s been proven that the companies won’t do it. It’s been proven the government can’t do it. And history has proven that we can do it.

Solidarity Forever!

John McCutcheon
President, AFM Local 1000

Local 1000’s Office Computers are old and tired and need to retire and collect their pensions!

We are looking for the donation of 2 desktop computers that can efficiently access the internet and do book-keeping and word-processing functions.  Check around your office and see if you have just what we need!

Contact Amanda in the office at (212)-843-8726.

The Local 1000 Executive Board passed the first balanced budget in recent history at its February meeting in Memphis!

In other actions, the board received a membership report (450 members), thanked retiring board member Dave Hawkins for his service, affirmed the website transition and updates, received the Member calling report, set forth on plans for an event in May 2011 at the Highlander Center in Tennessee, and affirmed plans for fun-and-fund-raising events this spring to support the Local 1000 Emergency Relief Fund and our work on behalf of musicians.

The Board noted the value of the regular Skype meetings over the past year to keep in contact and on top of our jobs and responsibilities.

The board is also preparing a resolution to take to the AFM Triennial Convention this June in Las Vegas (President John McCutcheon, Secretary John O’Connor and elected representative, Tret Fure will attended to represent the local.)

The date for the Fall Board Retreat was set for Nov 11th, 2010 in the New York City area.