Allegro

Currently Browsing: December, 2004

802 Announces New Area Standards
Mary Donovan
For the first time ever, musicians who work Off Broadway will have consistent standards. Local 802 has produced a booklet of wages, benefits and work rules for commercial productions in Off Broadway theatres. Musicians who already work on Broadway know

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How Far We’ve Come and the Road AheadPresident's Report
David Lennon
As 2004 comes to a close, it is important to look back on the initiatives we set out to accomplish and prepare for the road ahead. At the beginning of the year we pledged: TO INCREASE OUR COMMITMENT TO ORGANIZING,

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Jay Blumenthal
Negotiations for the freelance orchestras are well underway. The preparation process began with the various orchestra committees formulating questions for a survey. All tenured musicians on rosters for these orchestras had an opportunity to respond by answering the questions and

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Union Ready for Showdown at Labor Board
Mikael Elsila
A conference that could have settled the differences between Local 802 and the Opera Company of Brooklyn ended in a stalemate on Sept. 28 when representatives from the employer showed up and claimed they were not empowered to negotiate. The

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Member Spotlight
Standing up for your principles takes a special quality. Kiku Enomoto and her six colleagues at the Opera Company of Brooklyn have the right stuff that makes the union movement strong. Enomoto and her colleagues refused to play with the

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Heather Beaudoin
On Oct. 22, Local 802 convened the first meeting of the Hudson Yards Affordable Housing Committee. This committee will provide an official — and formal — capacity for the city’s labor movement to advocate for increased and real affordable housing

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Auditions and Rehearsals Should Pay
Joy Portugal
Twice every year, a number of 802 members who feel sure they have earned enough credits over a six-month period to qualify for the Health Benefits Plan receive a troubling letter informing them that they have fallen off the plan.

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Bill Dennison
Part-time faculty members at the New School University’s Jazz and Contemporary Music Program have ratified a new four-year agreement that will raise wages 16 percent over the life of the contract. The agreement, which covers approximately 75 faculty members, also

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Tip: don’t wait for the "Union Fairy"!Organizing Matters
Summer Smith
Once upon a dark and stormy time, not so long ago, New York City musicians didn’t receive health insurance from their employers. Not one musician could expect to retire with an employer-paid pension. And all were expected to accept their

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To my Local 802 family: After 20 years of service to Local 802, the time has come for me to say “Adios.” I am retiring. After all this time, some of us know each other, some of us have become

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Contest for Single Engagement Musicians
The president’s office, the Single Engagement and Organizing departments, and a new rank-and-file Club Date Organizing Committee launched a four-week “blitz” of club date rounds during October and November. The goal of these rounds is to increase 802’s presence in

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Studios Use Loophole to Avoid Film Fund
Jay Schaffner with Mikael Elsila
Major film studios have found a new way to cut their costs — and take away money from musicians at the same time. The new practice involves bypassing the AFM’s motion picture agreement in at least two different ways. The

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The Recording Department collected more than $1 million on behalf of musicians in 2003 in the form of grievances and collections. The most money was won in the TV field, with grievances on 50 contracts bringing in $605,209.22 to 818

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A Letter from AFM President Tom Lee
802 SHINED A LIGHT Zomba is now a union label. This is one victory in 802’s “Shine a Light on Dark Dates” campaign, which we initiated to support the AFM’s efforts to unionize Zomba. We asked members to report Zomba

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“Save Live Music” is not just Local 802’s mission — it’s also the name of a new Web site sponsored by the union. Go to www.SaveLiveMusic.com to keep track of the union’s fight for live music and battle against the

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Guest Commentary
Mary Landolfi
During the last four days before the election, a number of Local 802 Executive Board and rank-and-file members joined together with other volunteers from the AFL-CIO to phone voters in swing states on behalf of John Kerry. It was a

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Wednesday, December 15th @ 12:00 PMMark Your Calendars!
Knitting Factory/Instinct Records is cheating its recording artists out of royalties and denying them the rights to their work guaranteed by their contracts. For over a year, these artists have been fighting to have their contracts honored. It’s time for

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802 Legal Corner
Len Leibowitz
A new virus referred to as the “structural deficit” is rampant in symphony orchestras throughout the nation. This insidious infection poses a severe threat to musicians everywhere in their never-ending quest for the growth of their institution and the improvement

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Musicians' Assistance Program
Leslie Cardell, LCSW
Yes, the holiday season is upon us once again. All those good times, the family togetherness and happy celebrations we’ve come to expect…Right? No matter how you observe the holidays, you probably have a lot of ideas in your head

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Heather Beaudoin
HOW DID UNION MEMBERS VOTE? Local 802 members came out in record numbers for this year’s presidential race. Over 100 musicians contributed to 802’s get-out-the-vote operation by reaching out to union members during our many phone banks and assisting in

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Musica Viva. Musica Viva Musicians unanimously ratified a new contract as they prepared for the 2004-2005 New York season at All Souls Church. The term of the agreement is Feb. 11, 2004 through Feb. 10, 2007. The new contract includes

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“Dream A Little Dream.” Local 802 reached closure on a grievance with the Nederlander Organization for music prep work in its production of “Dream A Little Dream.” The last performance of “Dream…” at the Village Theatre was held over a

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This article from the December 2004 issue of Allegro magazine...

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September 14, 2004 -- September 21, 2004
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2004 Meeting called to order at 11:30 a.m. Present: Recording Vice President Dennison, Financial Vice President Blumenthal, Executive Board members, Babich, Gagliardi, Gale, Giannini, Landolfi, Shankin, Weiss, Whitaker, Controller Bogert, Assistant to the President Delia and Jazz

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Bill Crow
George Argila sent me a note remembering the late Doug Allan, with whom he studied drums and mallet instruments at the Henry Adler studios during the mid-1950’s. Doug wrote a letter of recommendation that helped George get out of the

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