We are Concerned Musicians of Local 802. We feel compelled to speak up, to get involved and to involve others in the effort to protect, improve, and strengthen our union, especially the effort to unify our ranks. We stand for the membership. We offer Local 802 new leadership to navigate the changing terrain of our industry. We want more for our union. More inclusiveness, more diversity, more open debate, discussion and dialogue, more attention to the concerns of all members, more accessibility, more service, more honesty and transparency. We are taking a stand for better contract negotiations, strategic political action in the public arena, restoring financial integrity to the local, implementing financial accountability among its officials and employees, upholding the highest ethical standard for union officers, and broadening and unifying our membership. We invite you to join us.
Ethics and Financial Integrity
We are committed to the highest standards of financial integrity and will establish checks and balances that protect and preserve the resources of Local 802. Local 802’s leadership must restore a culture of honesty, transparency and accessibility. Concerned Musicians of Local 802 will:
• Provide leadership that earns and maintains the trust of our membership and of other unions, and the respect of those with whom we negotiate.
• Re-establish sound financial practices that prevent misuse of union resources.
• Mandate regular financial reports to the Executive Board and provide a full monthly accounting of the expenses of all staff and departments.
• Improve financial accountability by having the Local 802 controller report to and answer to the Executive Board, rather than to any individual officer.
• Submit timely and accurate filings to government agencies as required by law.
A Stronger Future
We pledge renewed focus on the needs of all musicians in Local 802. We will build our membership base by reaching out to musicians in the jazz, Latin, Chamber music, gospel, rock, pop, and hip-hop fields, as well as those who work in music preparation and as accompanists. Ours will be the most inclusive and diverse entertainment union in the industry, embracing all those who in fact are making today's music; we will work to bring indie film and indie label recording, interactive media and video game music under the union umbrella.
At the national level, we will work to restore our credibility as a key local in the American Federation of Musicians. While continuing to be a forceful presence nationally in the Recording field, we must also lead the way in other areas pressing the Federation to unionize nonunion tours that take our members on the road, and encouraging strategic working relationships with other unions.
Local 802 must engage in public policy and interact with policy makers. We will increase our strategic involvement in political activities to heighten our visibility and enlist allies in the public arena. We will work at the federal, state and local levels to insure proper public support for the arts, particularly non-profit orchestra, opera, ballet and theatre companies.
The national healthcare crisis disproportionately affects our members. We will raise our voice in favor of health care reform legislation. Providing all children with access to a quality musical education can help assure that future audiences will value live music. Local 802 must be a leader in that campaign.
Negotiating More Effectively
We need negotiators who are strong, intelligent and mindful of the consequences of their actions for the bargaining unit and for the union as a whole. We seek contracts that protect and improve our incomes, benefits, working conditions, opportunities and job security. We will retain a skilled and experienced legal team, one that can offer knowledge and wisdom to our committees and negotiators. We will also preserve the right of individual bargaining units to retain outside counsel through the Musicians’ Legal Services Fund.
A key to successful negotiations is an informed, involved and unified membership. We will focus on rank-and-file participation, ensuring that negotiating committees, bargaining units and individual members will be fully engaged with the issues, background and context of each negotiation and our efforts on their behalf. We will insure that our orchestras, especially those at Lincoln Center that are so important to the cultural life of our country, have the full support of the union in their negotiations.
We will strengthen our relationships with our fellow unions to maximize our leverage. Local 802 must reestablish its credibility within the labor community; it must forge enduring ties with other unions within and outside of the performing arts community, as well as with any allies that can help us advance mutual interests and achieve collective goals.
A Strong and Competent Staff
We will retain a staff of competent professionals at Local 802, to create a more efficient and effective union. We will engender mutual respect among our staff and officers; and motivate our staff to communicate with and share its knowledge with our members. Filling vacancies in key staff positions will be a priority. Local 802’s Organizing Department is the key to bringing new employers under collective bargaining agreements. Working within our union’s budget, we must rebuild this department, filling its vacant staff positions and insisting that it reaches out to organize in all fields of music.
Organizing efforts must be heightened in such areas as the club date field, and in new areas of contemporary performance, as well as other traditional areas of performance, which have been historically neglected. Enforcing existing agreements is equally critical. Our leadership must effectively manage Local 802’s staff to insure compliance with agreed-upon wages, benefits and working conditions.
Vacancies in business representation and all other services, including music preparation, must be filled. We will insist on enforcement of the Broadway Special Situations agreement, the neglect of which allowed two recent musicals to begin and end their runs in violation of house minimums without adequate challenge or timely consequence.
Conclusion
The future has arrived for us and our union; we are confronted with changes in our industry which could never have been imagined when the AFM was first organized - proliferating new media, new tools for the creation and dissemination of music and new kinds of musicians. The time has arrived for leadership willing to face and embrace these changes with a determination to enable our members to benefit from them. We cannot turn
back the clock. With this in mind, we offer a fresh approach to the pressing issues facing our union. We invite your comments, concerns and criticism. Most of all we hope you will join this discussion and the effort to strengthen our union for the opportunities and struggles ahead, as we strive to protect and improve the lives and livelihoods of professional musicians.