Josh Groban in 2007 (photo by Shein via Wikipedia)

Recently, we had yet another issue come up with Josh Groban’s touring company, and it was a bit of a tangle. We received anonymous notifications that musicians had been contracted for a symphonic concert with Groban at Bethel Woods, and the calls had come from a non-union, semi-professional orchestra based upstate. These musicians were being paid variable amounts starting as low as $75 per service, with some musicians being compensated slightly more based on some unknowable metric.

It goes without saying that that rate is beyond unacceptable, but additionally as most folks might remember, the AFM had a very public disagreement with Josh Groban’s team a few years ago and the resolution was a blanket agreement with the AFM that all orchestras hired to accompany Josh Groban’s concerts would be put on union contracts. Seemingly, this would be simple to resolve.

Unfortunately as the next two months unfolded, it was not quite as easy as we hoped, and many thanks to business rep Pete Voccola for working with me so persistently to make sure this happened.

The first call we made was directly to the orchestra. We hoped to have a dialogue with them about how to make sure this gig was covered and paid properly.  They never responded to our multiple emails and phone calls.

Next we tried to reach out to Bethel Woods directly. They said they would call us back. They didn’t.

We moved on to the members of Josh’s team, who all started pointing fingers at other people who were responsible for contracting the orchestra. They tried to claim that it wasn’t their responsibility and we had to reach out to the presenters and the agency responsible for booking the gig in the first place, but refused for weeks to give us any names or contact info to do exactly that. AFM President Tino Gagliardi came to our aid and contacted JGT directly, and got the same lip service we did. Everyone was “working on it” but no one would return our calls, or tell us exactly who was doing the “work.” We heard through secondary sources that the original orchestra had been released from the job, but no other musicians had been hired. This went on until the week before the concert was scheduled to happen.

After numerous phone calls and email follow-ups, we finally heard that the Hudson Valley Symphony Orchestra had been approached and had sent the contract with an estimate to the presenter, but they had been told that they had to sign the contract as the employer. This is where things get a little sticky and technical, but in this context Hudson Valley was not actually the employer. Essentially, it would pass on all responsibility for any future payments under the contract, such as for a video capture and release, directly to the orchestra, rather than putting the burden on the folks actually profiting from that capture. The orchestra agreed to hold on signing the agreement, even though it was preventing them from actually getting on making sure the musicians were hired. It took yet another direct intervention from Tino explicitly explaining what would happen if this agreement was not signed by the presenter to at long last get LiveNation to agree to be the signatory employer, and finally we received the signed agreement two days before the concert happened. Thanks to Tino for really pushing to get that over the finish line.

I want to note that I have personally met and worked with Josh Groban and he has been nothing but lovely to be around. (Local 802 first won a one-off agreement with Groban all the way back in 2013.) I don’t blame Josh for what happened here, but I do blame his team for not making sure this was taken care of properly. We had multiple folks from his team telling us they wanted to make sure this was put on a contract, and perhaps they were working behind the scenes to try to push the presenters, but it took many phone calls and emails to get any sort of response initially, and then many more to actually be given contact info for the folks we were repeatedly told were responsible for making sure that that was going to happen. This show almost didn’t happen because they dragged their feet to the extent of not getting it over the finish line. The orchestra wasn’t hired until Friday. The concert was on Sunday. That’s an insane risk to take when there was an agreement already in place which laid out clear parameters for what is supposed to happen.

What I don’t understand is why this had to be so hard. I know in this context, that is a naive thing to say, but it still boggles my mind. It is so easy to just do things the right way. It’s laid out clearly in writing. Why?

I’m sure I’ll keep asking this question long into the future, but ultimately I heard nothing but glowing reviews about the orchestra and was told that the musicians were proud to be represented by Local 802 on this job, and that’s the part that I’m going to hold on to.

In fact, listen to what Local 802 member Greg Williams told us: “It was a delight for members of the Hudson Valley Symphony Orchestra as well as other New York freelancers to get to play with Josh Groban. It was really encouraging to see that we could get a contract signed where not only was it fairly paid, but contributing to health care and pension too! It was a great boost to the end of the summer!” Greg is the acting principal violist of the Hudson Valley Symphony Orchestra.

Remember, you can always report non-union gigs (or any work related situations) to the confidential Local 802 hotline at www.local802afm.org/hotline.

MORE UNION UPDATES

There are a lot of single engagement projects that have been coming in, from the Broadway Festival to a Harry Styles residency at Madison Square Garden. Folks, remember – if artists are having concerts at major venues, or there are signatory producers involved, they can afford to pay you union rates and give you the protections and benefits associated with union work. This includes protection from your work being recorded or taped and exploited for profit in the future without additional compensation.

• I am thrilled to report that our new Director of Field Services Sally Weathers has been hard at work learning the ins and outs of Local 802, and she has been an incredible asset to our office so far. If you get a phone call from her, please pick up and talk to her for a little while: she is rapidly getting to understand the needs of our members, and there’s no better way for her to do that than to talk to you directly.

• Our first New Member Orientations of the year took place on Sept. 3. (If you joined Local 802 recently and did not get an invitation to this orientation, please send an e-mail to our Communications Director Mikael Elsila at melsila@local802afm.org.) We have also scheduled our first ever “Know Your Rights” training to take place in person at the AFM with Freelance Services Director Wages Argott in mid-September. It’s a workshop to go over tactics for indie organizing and other tools we can deploy in the freelance sector.

• Local 802 will be participating in the Central Labor Council’s annual Labor March on Sept. 8. Come join us in celebrating organized labor with our fellow New York City unions! Please RSVP here to get our meetup location and to request 802 swag.

I hope to see you soon at an event, a rally, or at our upcoming October 7 membership meeting. As always, you can reach me at shaines@local802afm.org