[Dixielandjazz] Musician's Union

[dingle at baldwin-net.com]

Bill Gunter wrote:

>Friends,
>
>The articulate and knowledgeable Johnny Wilder posted a very enlightening 
>story about his Musician's Union experiences. I certainly read about 
>Johnny's experiences with great interest!
>
>There is another long long story about negotiations between the AFM and the 
>Sacramento Dixieland Jubilee (as it was then known). Bill Borcher (founder 
>of the Jubilee) was at the forefront of those negotiations and I got to 
>watch all the action being on the Board of Directors at the time.
>
>I won't go into it all, but it was rather funny.  Basically the settlement 
>resulted in the loss of "bonus funds" which were paid to the musicians later 
>on (after they had been paid for their sets and the remaining funds in the 
>Jubilee receipts had been deposited).  The Jubilee worked on their upcoming 
>budget and the money left over was distributed to the individual musicians 
>in the form of a bonus (which varied from year to year).
>
>The union required a fixed set fee for the musicians and the bonuses 
>disappeared.
>
>But it's more complicated than that and I don't want to go into it all.
>
>My favorite union story involves a band I know of and all of the guys were 
>union members. The leader wondered why they never got recommended for gigs 
>by the local which the union guys had said they would do.
>
>So the leader asked his wife to call the union and pose as a person 
>interested in a certain kind of band and ask the union who (whom?) they 
>would recommend. She described her husband's band (which was rather unique 
>and quite popular).
>
>The union guy said he had "just the band for her" and recommended the band 
>led by the president of the union. The wife said that she had heard that 
>there was a band called (she named her husband's band) and asked what the 
>union thought of them.
>
>The union guy replied that they were an ok band, but that (the band the 
>union president led) was far superior and was really the one she should 
>book.
>
>The wife thanked the union dude and hung up.
>
>After she told her husband and the rest of the guys in the band about the 
>conversation everyone in the band (including the leader) resigned from the 
>union.
>
>End of story.
>
>I don't know what is complicated or surprising in stories like these and the 
>ones Johnny Wilder related.  That's just the way things operate . . . it's 
>SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).
>
>Respectfully submitted,
>
>Bill "Union? What Union?" Gunter
>jazzboard at hotmail.com
>
>
>
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>
>
>  
>
My but hings have changed, as if that is news. But when I joined Local 
47 while still in my teens, I had to pass a test. I had to appear before 
an examainer who required to me play certain scale keys, to sight read 
some passages, and to answer some verbal questions about music. When I 
passed, I got my card. A freind had to apply theee tmes before he got 
his card. It was then considered a skill craft union.
I resigned in good standing from my final local when I reached 70. The 
local here in Michigan did little to promote my band or work, and since 
they had done away with work dues and since we worked at nearly triple 
the scale they set, we harmed no one to play our few gigs as non-union. 
The local really existed mainly for the Symphony Orchestra who were 
contracted players and made up the main source of local income above the 
local share ofdues after the national pro capita cut. Dues were being 
increased almost yearly for a time, so I figured it was only financial 
sense to resign -- I did so in good standing.
Shortly after that I began to receive a monthly pension from the 
national -- from work performed in LA and Chicago where a pension fund 
on working bands was in existance. Most locas have no such pension 
program - except for officers in some cases.
There was a time when the union was important and needed for the 
musician. But in time there began to be more rules about how the members 
could be in union  trouble than against the employers hiring and 
defaulted against the musicains.
In all, I paid dues to locals in LA, Chicago, Denver, Grand Rapids, and 
a few others like Leadville, Colo (from my Aspen days). Because I had 
never been a member for 35 years in any of them at the time of 
retureent, no life membership was ever possible (having put cards in 
escrow in good standing when not working in other jurisdidctions).
I have had very good expereiences with some locals - very horrid with 
others. The straw that broke this camel's back was when the membership 
numbers dropped to the point where the AFof M decided that the setup 
crews and stage guys that work with large rock groups in their concert 
tours would be eligable for membership. No rule about taking any musical 
test as it was done when I joined. So much for the standards of a skill 
craft union.
In all, I paid national dues for a continuous 54 years before saying 
adios; it was quite a ride while it lasted but this  fellow is off the 
camel now. I PAID MY DUES!!