The Highlander Retreat Details are now available. Registration is now open. Alternate Lodging sites are now accessible

REMINDER:

For all gigs completed on or after April 1, 2011, you need to use the revised percentages in the right hand column on the back of the LS-1 (revision posted 6.1.2010 on our website—MEMBERS AREA—>UNION CONTRACTS).

Secretary-Treasurer, Amy Fix, has written to all members with CBA’s (Collective Bargaining Agreements) which were amended last year.

These changes keep us in line the the AFM EPF (American Federation of Musicians Employee Pension Fund) guidelines while the pension is in the period defined as “recovery.”

Questions? Please contact Amy Fix in the office -Tues & Thurs 10-5 pm EDT.

Tell Me What Democracy Looks Like:

By Local 1000 Members, Stephen Lee Rich, Sandy Andina (Executive Board Member), and Ingrid Frances Stark.

Reminder of Pension Percentage increase beginning April 1, 2011

All engagements and musical services performed on or after April 1, 2011 are subject to the second stage of required percentage increase as per the AFM-EPF Supplemental Agreement.

For example:

-       For all those who used to get a 10% pension contribution before June 1, 2010, the rate went up to 10.4% for all work taking place between June 1, 2010 and March 31, 2011.

-       Those same people will begin to get a 10.9% contribution for all work performed on or after April 1, 2011.

Page two of the LS-1 contract lists every possible original pension rate and its two stages of rate increases. I have pasted in (with technical glitches, sorry) that chart as part of this letter.

Please note that Local 1000 members voted many years ago to keep 8% pension as a minimum contribution rate. You may select any of the rates from this chart (here or in LS-1 contract) 8.32% and higher. The left-hand column is only for use for work completed up until March 31, 2011.

Please contact the Local 1000 office with any questions about these procedures.

In Solidarity,

Click for PDF of chart

Amy Fix

Secretary-Treasurer

“Local 1000 members Ray Korona and Spook Handy sang labor songs at the AFL-CIO Unity Rally at theNew Jersey state house in Trenton on Friday, February 25, 2011. Over 4,000 people stood in the pouring rain to show solidarity with workers in Wisconsin, and to stand up for workers rights to organize and bargain collectively in New Jersey, where Governor Chris Christie is a threat to labor.” (from Amy Fix, Secretary-Treasurer, Local 1000)

New Jersey State AFL-CIO Unity Rally: We Were There, We Are One

The unity rally at the State House was a tremendous success, and you made it happen. Union members from across the state and nation, from all sectors of our labor movement, joined with our community partners and stood together – over 4,000 strong – to show solidarity for the Wisconsin workers.

Everyone who believes in solidarity and knows what’s at risk for the middle class was there. Although the rain started falling, a little downpour was not cause for hesitation; it simply meant that we were more determined than ever to stand together. Our signs were held higher, and a swell of umbrellas joined the concert of colors which swept across the crowd. Standing shoulder to shoulder at the rally were bakery workers and iron workers, teachers and laborers, nurses and electricians, firefighters and plumbers, painters and social workers, carpenters and grocery workers, teamsters and bus drivers, secretaries and steelworkers, professors and sheet metal workers, police officers and plasterers, toll collectors, and asbestos workers, retail workers and utility workers, a wide range of state workers, and the list goes on.

We were honored to welcome to New Jersey, national AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, national CWA President Larry Cohen, General IUPAT President James Williams, General OPCMIA President Patrick Finley, and NEA Vice President Lilly Eskelsen, who all joined together with our New Jersey partners from the NAACP, NJEA, and AFT/HPAE with a message of solidarity, emphasizing the need to stand in unity. We thank the union members who set up the sound system and sang the songs which reverberated to both ends of West State Street, sending a message for all to hear. We are proud of our unions which contributed so generously to the Wisconsin workers during the rally, proving once again that the New Jersey labor movement stands in solidarity.

Wisconsin State AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Stephanie Bloomingdale as well as two Wisconsin workers, Sue Blaustein and Arlyn Halvorson, inspired the crowd with their words of encouragement.

We will harness the energy from this rally to intensify voter registration and education as well as implementing an unprecedented grassroots mobilization program that will ensure that the voice of working families is heard in November.

This was not just a rally, but a new beginning, and despite the devices which seek to divide us, we are one. We still believe in one state, one voice, and one labor movement.

Source:  New Jersey State AFL-CIO website: http://www.njaflcio.org/pages/news/357 Used with permission.

I just spoke to member Victor Lewis (Louie) and he said, “If it wasn’t for Local 1000, I would not be getting pension check each month. The AFM pension is the best thing that has ever happened to me.”  from Deb Cowan

John McCutcheon and Tret Fure join Locals 166 and 8 to support Public Employees' Collective Bargaining rights

Streets around the world are filled with people who are demanding dignity and respect from their government. Cairo, Tripoli. Bahrain, Tehran…and Madison.

Local 1000 stands with its union brothers and sisters…along with AFM Locals 8 (Milwaukee) and 166 (Madison) in resisting Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s attempts to bust unions and deny workers collective bargaining rights.

In recent days it has become clear, after unions agreed to accept the Governor’s reduction in benefits, that his real goal is to strip workers of their rights to negotiate anything other than wages, which are already legally capped.  Workers would have no say on working conditions, vacation and family leave, health care, pension, grievance.

Wisconsin is a mere test case for similar measures waiting in the wings in Indiana, Ohio, and beyond.  Workers are willing to lift their share of the burden when it comes to helping balance state budgets.

But this current assault is not about money.  It is about power.  It is about justice.

And, in this fight, it’s easy to decide “Which Side Are You On?”

Solidarity Forever!

-John McCutcheon, President of Local 1000 AFM

Thanks to our members who are showing their solidarity across the USA:

Ray Korona and Spook Handy, AFL-CIO rally in Trenton, New Jersey, Feb 25, 2011.

Spooky Handy and Ray Korona, AFL-CIO Rally, Trenton, New Jersey, Feb 25, 2011

“On Feb 25, 2011,Union brother Ray Korona and I sang an hour’s worth of labor songs at the Solidarity with Wisconsin Rally  in Trenton, NJ.   From the steps of the State House, overlooking the sea of red shirts and jackets under umbrellas or exposed to the pouring rain, I estimated the crowd to be about 5000 in number.

We sang favorites like Union Maid, Solidarity Forever, We Shall Overcome, If I Had a Hammer, This Land is Your Land and Which Side Are You On?
As the crowds grew so did the percentage of audience singing along.  By the end of our hour set, the crowd was on fire, loudly singing “You can’t scare me – I’m sticking to the Union … til the day die!”

When the speakers took the stage, they had a hot, excited, energized community of union supporters ready to let their voices be heard.  I am humbled by the opportunity to be a part of this great movement to re-awaken America and the word to the issue of worker’s right from the viewpoint of the podium.

All the best to all who stand in Solidarity.”  -Spook Handy (read more about this rally)

Aaron Fowler in Topeka, Kansas

A montage of photos from Wisconsin’s rallies are set by Anders Lindall to a song by Local 1000 member, Billy Bragg:

We Are All Wisconsin: There Is Power In A Union from Anders Lindall on Vimeo.

Tom Kastle, Madison, Wisconsin, March 3, 2011
”Joined in the Arts March on the Capitol last Thursday. David HB Drake is the singer in the center, I’m off to the right with guitar. Have also been a tenor banjo player for the New Orleans style Funeral for the Bill and have participated in many a percussion jam, march, and chant on cowbell (ounce for ounce and decibel for decibel, the finest political instrument there is). Have been hundreds of musicians over the days and nights and weeks. Thanks, all!”

Tom Kastle (guitarist on right with hat, behind guitarist in beret), Madison, WI

Local 1000 sister, Michelle Shocked, was present in Madison, Wisconsin, March 5, 2011:

Emma’s Revolution (Pat Humphries and Sandy O) were in Madison on Sunday and Monday March 6-7, 2011

Sandy O and Pat Humphries (Emma's Revolution) in Madison 3/6/11

Stand Together (The Madison Song) Lyrics
Stand Together (The Madison Song) mp3

Member Tom Juravich re-releases his single “When Did I Become the Problem?”

Member Steve Eulberg moves his setting of Martin Niemöller’s famous quote to the top of his playlist:

“I Said Nothing“

The Membership Meeting at NERFA time has been changed to 3:30 pm on Saturday in the Ulster room.  Take note and attend!

On Sunday, October 3rd, Local 1000 helped celebrate Sing Out! magazine’s 60th anniversary by participating in a Sing Out, Sing In concert in Philadelphia.  Hosted by members Peter Blood and Annie Blood Patterson, a host of Local 1000 members led a crowd in a wonderful sing-along concert based on the classic songbook Rise Up Singing, edited by Blood and Patterson. President John McCutcheon, Kim & Reggie Harris, Greg Artzner & Terri Leonino (Magpie), and John Flynn led songs that included compositions by charter members Earl Robinson, Si Kahn, and Pete Seeger, among others.
The evening was brought to a boisterous close with McCutcheon leading the crowd in an impassioned “Solidarity Forever.”  Sing Out magazine was an early supporter of Local 1000 and entered into the Local’s first collective bargaining agreement. We look forward to many more years of singing out together.

Labor Day (Sept 6) – Oct  31, 2010

Woody Guthrie Bowling Tournament

to Benefit Local 1000 Emergency Relief Fund & Organizing Efforts.

Have fun and support your fellow musicians!  Watch Tret’s video, learn more about and sign up here.  Read President McCutcheon’s invitation letter.