[Dixielandjazz] Fringe Benefits for Musicians

[Steve Barbone]

David Dustin <postmaster at fountainsquareramblers.org> wrote:
 
> The article contributed by Steve Barbone is interesting for the distinctions
> drawn between independent contractor and freelance employee. However, it is
> clearly a sales job for union membership and the last half of the article
> appears irrelevant to most of us, IMHO. The putative lost benefits of
> allowing oneself to be treated as an independent contractor by a band can
> only be relevant for fully professional bands that are ?going concerns? and
> have a continuing and substantial income stream. Like the Lawrence Welk
> Orchestra, or one of the many other Ghost Bands still in business 60 years
> after the ?ghost? shuffled off this mortal coil. Casual bands in the USA,
> scuffling for paying gigs much less well-paying gigs, have no assets, not
> even ?good will? accrued in a saleable name or musical reputation, and
> absolutely no wherewithal to offer fringe benefits such pension fund
> contributions, employment security insurance coverage, or health insurance
> to players. There is a push-pull nature to this relationship, and looking at
> it only from the top-down perspective of the booker-band leader misses the
> demand for income on the part of the contracted musician. A band that
> divides up, let?s say, $500-750 per gig, even on a semi-regular basis, does
> not have the ability to treat players as any form of employee, nor would the
> ?employees? themselves be content to exist in an exclusive relationship with
> that band alone in order to make ends meet, $50 to $150 per gig. If, for the
> sake of argument, we agree that contracted musicians are ?employees,? in
> most states a part-time employee is ineligible for fringe benefits mandated
> for full-time employees.

I agree with most of what Dave writes. There are a couple of exceptions. If
one is a member of some AFM locals, and books union gigs, then money is put
aside by the union for pension, health and other benefits. Naturally, if one
only books 5 union gigs a year, it will not amount to much. The union
benefits are available whether or not one is an employee, or an independent.
As Dave says, that article was a pitch for the union.

But then, I discovered much to my surprise in 2001, that I had some money in
my 802 AFM pension account in New York City from the 1960s. That money had
accrued from casual union gigs that paid as little as $40. Wasn't much, but
surely better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

These days I no longer book "union" gigs, but often wish that the union was
stronger in my area. If the Philadelphia AFM was strong, like the old time
AFM in the Big Apple, I would still be a dues paying union member.

I think, in effect, for union gigs, the union either takes the place of the
employer and holds back some monies for benefits, or as in the case of some
Symphony Orchestras etc., negotiates a contract where the Symphony is the
employer and the Symphony withholds or contributes the benefit money.

The other point is that as a "Free Lance Employee", the relationship between
casual musician and band does not have to be mutually exclusive. The
employee is still fully able to work with other bands as he chooses. And the
band leader may hire others. Employee status could be conferred for one gig
only as well as a steady.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone