Dear Union Family,
This is our regular monthly email newsletter. It includes reminders, member news and important announcements from the Executive Board and the office.
News from the Executive Board
Important Upcoming Dates
Apr 24: Women’s Coffee & Caucus
Apr 26: Executive Board Meeting
May 6: Local 1000 Virtual Coffee Hour
For more information, view the Local 1000 calendar
Resolutions Passed at Recent Membership Meeting
At the Local 1000 membership meeting on February 22 this year, the membership was asked to consider two resolutions: “A Resolution for a Ceasefire in Gaza” proposed by Deborah Van Kleef and a follow-up proposal by John O’Connor. The text of both resolutions is included below, and will be posted in the “Union News” section on the Local 1000 website. Both resolutions were passed by a majority of the meeting attendees.
Resolution for a Ceasefire in Gaza
We, the members of American Federation of Musicians Local 1000, mourn the loss of life in Israel and Gaza, the displacement of over a million Palestinians and the destruction of homes, schools and hospitals within the territory. We join over 200 local unions and the AFL-CIO in calling for an immediate ceasefire, and an end to the siege of Gaza
We further resolve:
The Israeli hostages taken by Hamas must be immediately released, as must civilians, medical personnel and humanitarian aid workers taken prisoner by Israeli military forces. Both Hamas and Israel must adhere to standards of international law and Geneva Convention rules of warfare concerning the welfare and security of civilians.
To bring an end to the suffering in Gaza, power must be restored, and water, fuel, food, medical supplies and other humanitarian aid must flow freely into the territory. Palestinians and foreign nationals requiring medical care must be allowed to leave.
The United States must act. President Biden must immediately call for a ceasefire. Military aid to Israel must be stopped.
Finally, we deplore all hate crimes including those against Palestinian and other Arab Americans, Muslims and Jews.
Follow-up Resolution
Resolved that the Local 1000 Executive Board be empowered on behalf of the union to take further actions as it sees fit to support efforts of the National Labor Network for Ceasefire and to sign on to any further petitions and actions that the Network supports or advises. Further, the Local 1000 Executive Board be empowered on behalf of the union to take action and make statements as it sees fit compatible with the advancement of the International Court of Justices’ orders to the state of Israel to “cease forthwith any acts and measures in breach of [the obligations of the Genocide Convention], including such acts or measures which would be capable of killing or continuing to kill Palestinians, or causing or continuing to cause serious bodily or mental harm to Palestinians or deliberately inflicting on their group, or continuing to inflict on their group, conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part…”
US Members Only: Instrument Insurance Update
As of March 18, the AFM has secured a new carrier for our Instrument Insurance, Accelerant National Insurance Company, but it is still taking a while to get confirmation on the final rates that will be charged. We have heard from our members who lost coverage that they are receiving new quotes now. If you are still in need of insurance or want to start new coverage through Accelerant National Insurance Company, contact their office at 800-503-9230, Monday through Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm (CT) or by email at plsdsteam.service@amba.info.
You can find more coverage of this issue in the International Musician here and here.
Some alternate sources of insurance that some members have explored are listed below:
Clarion Associates – https://www.clarionins.com
Anderson Group – https://anderson-group.com/musical-instrument-insurance/
Heritage – https://musicins.com/
MusicPro Insurance – https://www.musicproinsurance.com/
Note: Canadian members who have instrument insurance through the AFM are not affected by this change at all.
Please Pay Your Work Dues!
You may have missed previous messages encouraging all our members who currently are not doing so to pay their Estimated Work Dues (EWD). AFM bylaws stipulate that all members are required to pay work dues of 2.5% on all music wages. Members with Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) or union contracts are automatically billed for work dues. Everyone else must pay what we call Estimated Work Dues. Currently only about 20% of our membership is paying some form of work dues. Local 1000 has had a long tradition of not enforcing EWD payments, but the current state of our budget makes it clear that we need to change that.
Whether you make a few hundred dollars a year or many thousands, these EWD payments from you on a regular basis help our local to continue the important work we do together. Programs like Fair Trade Music, our social justice and diversity work, helping members cross the border, and advocating for independent musicians in Canada and the US all take time and resources. We need to be able to pay our wonderful office staff, who process and administer Emergency Relief Fund Grants, Music Performance Trust Fund concerts, visa applications and keep our office running. Your work dues will allow us to fulfill our mission of being a dynamic and vital cross-border union that serves all travelling musicians in North America.
Instead of requiring a specific amount from you, we simply ask that you make a good-faith estimate of your total non-contracted music wages each year (including teaching, transcription, conducting and any other pay you receive for your music work) and then arrange to pay work dues on that amount in a way that works for you. Whether it is $5 a month or $200, every single work dues payment makes a difference!
It is easy to set up an automatic monthly, annual or biannual work dues payment. Click here to get started: https://www.local1000.org/pay-work-dues/
If you want to learn how to set up a CBA for your music business— which allows you to contribute regularly to your pension fund and automatically deduct regular work dues payments— please contact Richard at the office (Richard@local1000.org) or one of our CBA aces Steve Eulberg (seulberg@steveeulberg.com) or Aaron Fowler (aaron@aaronfowler.org)
In gratitude and solidarity,
Your Local 1000 2024 Executive Board
Canadian Corner
Hello and welcome to spring.
As well as being the Canadian vice-president of Local 1000, I am the Canadian birthday singer, trying to contact all Canadian members on their birthdays. I have a couple of hurdles to jump to accomplish this very enjoyable duty. The first is finding a current phone number for everyone. About 30 – 40% of the contact info we have in our membership database is not up to date. If all members could ensure correct contact information when you pay your annual dues or when you pay your required work dues, we’d be grateful. I realize that birthday calls are not a high-priority but there may be calls from union sources that could be important. So please, ensure that your contact info at the office is current.
The second hurdle is that you’re not home when I call! Please, don’t go out to celebrate your birthday until you hear from me!!! This last hurdle was written 04/01/24! That is how important it is!
The Junos were celebrated at the end of March and Local 1000 member, David Francey received a JUNO for Traditional Roots Album of the Year for his album ’The Breath Between’. Brother James Keelaghan was nominated for the same award. Both recordings are excellent as both are wonderful songwriters. A big congrats to both David and James.
If you have any questions about your union life, don’t hesitate to contact me.
In solidarity,
Arthur McGregor, vicepresidentcanada@local1000.org
Local 1000 Monthly Monday Coffee Hour
Mark your calendars for Monday May 6, and join us for our Monthly L1K Coffee Hour.
We’ve not yet chosen a topic for the May meeting, but we’re known for going way off topic anyway, so bring your liveliest opinions to the klatch. Details below:
Local 1000 Coffee Hour
May 6, 2024 @ 12pm Pacific/2pm Central/3pm Eastern (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83864842750?pwd=Yi9ONGNPZmU2WGY2ODl4ekdtVklRUT09
Meeting ID: 838 6484 2750
Passcode: 478380
Women’s Coffee & Caucus
All members in good standing of Local 1000 who identify as women are invited to attend the next Women’s Coffee Hour on Wednesday, April 24th @ 12pm Pacific/2pm Central/3pm Eastern (US and Canada)
We meet for support, conversation, further discussion of issues within the union pertaining to women. We always enjoy each other’s amazing company!
AFM Local 1000’s Women’s Monthly Coffee Hour
Wednesday, April 24th
12pmPacific/2pmCentral/3pmEastern
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84890324558?pwd=WHgvOHNtbHZJS2NVVDFmM280ZDBadz09
Meeting ID: 848 9032 4558
Passcode: 513547
Upcoming dates are:
May 22
Thank You to the Still Small Voice 4U Foundation
Last August, the Still Small Voice 4U foundation began offering Artist Innovation Grants exclusively to Local 1000 members. These grants, which paid $500 USD for live performances that were free to the public and presented in partnership with community organizations have all been awarded.
We would like to thank Ron Cooke and the “Still Small Voice 4U” foundation for their generosity and their support for union musicians. For more information about the foundation’s other activities, visit http://www.assv4u.com/.
Emergency Relief Fund update
Good news! The Emergency Relief Fund (ERF) offers grants of up to $500 to members in good standing for emergency medical or unforeseen circumstances that impact their ability to work. This new policy replaces the old no-interest pay-back loan model and we hope to be able to keep offering the $500 grants as long as the fund remains solvent. If you are a former ERF grant recipient, we ask that you “pay it forward” by donating to the fund whenever you are able, to help ensure that others can get support when they need it. We also hope that past recipients will participate in future fundraising activities, so we can continue to help members in need.
To apply for an ERF grant, go to: https://www.local1000.org/resources/emergency-relief-fund/
Committee and Executive Board Work
The bulk of the work of this union gets done through hundreds of hours of volunteer labor by committee members and the Executive Board. The E-Board meets every 6 weeks via zoom and the committees meet regularly. If you want to join the excitement or have a concern that you think we should address, please contact President Aaron Fowler. It takes all of us working together to stand up and fight for our rights. Please consider joining us. You can make a difference.
Conference call: You can represent Local 1000
Local 1000 hopes to be represented at more conferences to reach musicians throughout the independent music industry. Our labor and voices are needed now more than ever, for members and non-members alike. If you plan to attend a conference and want to help spread the word about Local 1000 please contact President Aaron Fowler to see how you can be an ambassador for your union. It’s not hard to do and is a great conversation-starter.
Social media handles
Are you connected to Local 1000’s social media accounts? If so, make sure you like or follow us on:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afmlocal1000
X (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/local1000afm
Facebook Public Page: https://www.facebook.com/local1000afm
We also have a private Facebook page for Local 1000 members only, to facilitate communication and promote discussion of union issues among our members. Please ask to join this page to connect with your fellow members (Friends of our local are encouraged to like our public page instead.)
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AFM.Local1000
Member News
Tell us your news! Have you released an album, won an award, been involved in an interesting initiative that you’d like to let people know about?
If you have exciting news to share with Local 1000 members, we want to know. Submit Your News Here!
Submissions should relate to significant career events, Please do not submit individual gig or tour announcements. Thank you!
We’ll include your news in an upcoming Local 1000 e-newsletter, and we’ll post it on our public Local 1000 page at https://www.facebook.com/local1000afm
Gary Green to be inducted into California Music Hall of Fame
The California Music Hall of Fame and Museum will officially induct iconic Americana singer-songwriter Gary Green at their April 14 2024 ceremony.
“Green, whose legendary albums are already part of the Smithsonian Institution’s Folkways collection, is best known as “the outlaw folksinger” whose influence helped shape a generation of socially-conscious writers using music as an organizing tool…” Read more here.
April Birthdays
Finally, we would like to wish the following members Happy Birthday! If your birthday falls in April and you don’t see it listed below, or if the date is incorrect, please send an email to Deborah Van Kleef with your birthdate, current phone number and email address. Thanks to Deborah and fellow Birthday Bunnies, Lydia Adams Davis, Arthur McGregor and Tim Van Egmond.
Resolution for a Ceasefire in Gaza