[Dixielandjazz] Local 802 A F of M Pension efforts for Jazz Musicians

[Stephen G Barbone]

I guess many of us on this chat list, referred to in the below  
article, are those "elderly jazz musicians who lack pension benefits".  
I thought the union was responsible for pensions. Gosh, if the non- 
union clubs have to pay pension benefits in NYC, the going rate for a  
night's work at a non union club  there will decrease from $25 to $20  
<grin>

Viva la tip jar.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone
www.myspace.com/barbonestreetjazzband

Jazz Musicians Expand Pension Protest

March 1, 2012 - by James C McKinley Jr. - NEW YORK TIMES

The musicians’ union for New York City has begun an advertising  
campaign and plans to expand protests outside of jazz clubs as part of  
its efforts to win pension benefits for jazz artists, union leaders  
said Thursday.

The union, Local 802 of the American Federation of Musicians,  
startedhanding out leaflets outside the Blue Note in Greenwich Village  
in December, arguing the club owners have reneged on a promise they  
made to the union in 2006 to begin contributing pension benefits for  
jazz musicians in return for a sales tax break passed by the  
legislature. No formal agreement to finance pensions for jazz artists  
was ever reached between the union and the clubs, and some club owners  
even dispute the union’s claim that they made a tentative pact to do so.

On Thursday evening, the union plans to expand the leafleting campaign  
to five other prominent jazz clubs – Birdland, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola,  
the Iridium, Jazz Standard and the Village Vanguard. In addition, the  
union is taking out ads in jazz publications to call attention to the  
plight of elderly jazz musicians who lack pension benefits.

The ads show an old man’s hands at a piano keyboard with the headline  
“Older jazz musicians are living in poverty. NYC’s top jazz clubs  
refuse to contribute to pensions that would allow jazz artists to  
retire with dignity.” At the bottom is a link to an online petition.

Club owners have resisted the union’s efforts to force them to pay  
into a pension fund for years. Some say they believe it should be the  
responsibility of band leaders to pay pension benefits rather than  
clubs; they point out writing a pension check for every musician who  
plays at a major jazz club would be impractical and costly. Others  
assert the 8,000-member union is fishing for new revenue to prop up  
its pension fund, whose main beneficiaries are mostly retired Broadway  
musicians, studio session players and classical musicians. They argue  
most jazz artists, who have traditionally worked in non-union clubs,  
would prefer to receive more pay and handle their own retirement plans.

But the union argues the clubs owe their profits to jazz artists and  
have a moral obligation to provide benefits. Several well-known jazz  
artists are supporting the union campaign, among them the bassist Ron  
Carter, drummer Bernard Purdie and guitarists John and Bucky Pizzarelli.
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