February 2022 Newsletter

February 2022 Newsletter

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

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

President’s Message

Our Union and fellow working musicians across the country are strengthening our voice for change. We are watching the power of unified voices across the music industry. One is the very influential voice in relation to streaming music. There is much work to do to make sure musicians voices are respected and that we are paid a living wage for our music. Please let us know if you are interested in working in this fight.

A couple items to highlight this month. Our Fair Trade Music Campaign is kicking into high gear. We are working with venues to increase the number of Fair Trade Music venues across the United States. We will be announcing some very exciting news in the next few months around this campaign so stay tuned and get involved!

The other exciting new is the new Local 1000 website. You received an email a few days ago inviting you to fill out your artist profile on the new site. Add a picture, your bio, some videos, action shots, and where you tour. This new tool will be a great marketing tool and getting the word out about you! Check it out, fill it out, and join the hundreds of members using this platform to talk about your work.

Together we are Mighty!

President Fowler

Next Membership Meeting

Thursday, February 24, 2022
Time: 7:00 PM EST; 6:00 PM CST; 5:00 PM Mountain; 4:00 PM Pacific

Please plan to attend the first membership meeting of 2022 on Thursday, February 24th. We have moved the day to Thursday because many of you had conflicts with Saturday meetings. The login information is below— we look forward to seeing you all there! The meeting is open to all members in good standing.

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85772799720?pwd=bTVucm1yWENVREJzdjNLWWxmZE0wdz09

Meeting ID: 857 7279 9720
Passcode: 808159

Local 1000 Launches New Website

We are excited to announce that www.Local1000.org has had a full make-over!

A primary feature of our new site is a Member Directory. This directory will be a place for people to find and hire union musicians for their events (for fair wages, of course — thanks to the Fair Trade Music campaign!), and for our members to get to know each other a little bit better too. 

To be included in the Member Directory, you must be current on all dues and fees. After you log into your account, navigate to your profile and click on “edit your Local 1000 profile.” Step-by-step instructions and a video tutorial are available here: https://www.local1000.org/how-to-edit-your-profile/ 

After you update your profile, please browse the site— you may learn something new about your union! The website is also a one-stop-shop for you to pay membership dues, work dues, or make a solidarity pledge. Plus, it’s a great place to send your musician friends who are not yet union members.

If you find any problems with the website, please contact us at: [email protected]
The new website is built and managed by Local 1000 member Vi Wickam, with guidance from past-US Vice President Erin Mae Lewis, the Executive Board, and the Communications Committee. 

L1K Coffee Hours

We’re baaaack! Local 1000’s Zoom Coffee Hour returns in the new year, hosted by Annie Patterson & Aileen Vance.

Bring your own beverage. 
All of us provide the camaraderie, support, check-ins, ideas, laughs, connections.

Wednesdays: February 16, March 16, April 20, May 11
12pm Pacific/1pmMTN/2pmCentral/3pmEastern

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86037179426?pwd=bkxSRkI0NlBTY1pSVHBvY2IvMm1RZz09

Meeting ID: 860 3717 9426
Passcode: 863331

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Working Group

The Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Working Group is excited to announce some upcoming events and actions in 2022. 

Watch for our DEI survey, which will be sent out very soon! It will be easy and quick to fill out and will help us immensely in identifying who our members are and what they want from our union. 

DEI members John Acosta and Faith Nolan are collaborating on a project to present concerts in 2022 featuring BIPOC artists.  If you are a BIPOC member our union and would like to get involved in this concert project or in the newly-formed BIPOC Caucus of Local 1000, contact John: [email protected] or Faith: [email protected]

Save the dates: Our first anti-racism leadership training will take place March 19 & 20. Kasi Perreira, Director of Racial & Gender Justice at the Washington State Labor Council, will be offering a weekend-long training for our Board and committee members. The trainings will be 4 hours each day, beginning at 9:30am PST.

We encourage all members serving in leadership roles in our local to register for the event, but any members in good standing who are interested may attend. Registration info and materials will be announced soon. For more info, contact Aileen Vance: [email protected]

Fair Trade Music Update

The Local 1000 Fair Trade Music Campaign is ramping up to bring fairness to all venues that hire musicians and performers in the acoustic music scene. Fair Trade Music is the primary organizing campaign of our union. During the pandemic activists in Local 1000 began meeting together remotely to strategize on how to further the campaign to make it an effective organizing vehicle to reach the goals of Local 1000 as a union that will make meaningful change for worker/musicians in our industry. We hope to launch a full campaign as music work re-opens and the pandemic winds down, hopefully by early summer this year. Look for us at Folk Alliance International in Kansas City. We will need your involvement. Solidarity!!

Social Media Handles

Are you connected to Local 1000’s Social Media accounts? If not, make sure you like or follow us!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afmlocal1000

Twitter: https://twitter.com/local1000afm

Facebook Public Page: https://www.facebook.com/local1000afm

We also have a private member page, which is to facilitate communication between members of Local 1000 and to promote discussion of Local 1000 issues amongst our members. Please ask to join this page to connect with your fellow members (note: this page is for current Local 1000 members only — friends of the Local are encouraged to like our public page instead.)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/AFM.Local1000

Show Us Your Card!

During the pandemic, we fell behind on sending out member cards. We’re working hard to send updated cards to all of our members now. If you haven’t received yours by the end of the month, please contact [email protected]

As the saying goes, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it!”. Now that our Instagram and Twitter accounts are active again, we’d like to showcase our members. If you would like to be included, please take a photo of yourself with your Local 1000 union card and we’ll post it on Twitter and Instagram. If you are on either of these platforms, please include both your Instagram and twitter handles so we can tag you. Send your photos to Deb Cowan: [email protected] Also be sure to follow us so we can follow you back.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/afmlocal1000

Twitter: https://twitter.com/local1000afm

Work Dues Equivalency/Solidarity Pledge

Are you signed up for monthly Estimated Work Dues or Solidarity Pledge payments?

Learn more here. 

MPTF Funds Still Available

The Music Performance Trust Fund is offering grants for live-streamed events, subject to funding availability. Eligible performances are for five musicians or less, and performances require a co-sponsor. Any larger live stream plan will remain 50/50 at the MPTF’s discretion. All local health protocols must be followed and the MPTF reserves the right to cancel, revoke, or otherwise limit the distribution of these grants due to COVID-19 issues. The MPTF will provide production and tech support of up to a maximum $250 per scheduled performance.  Any production cost above that amount must be covered by a co-sponsor.

For more information about available grants and applying through Local 1000, contact Richard Coombs.

MPTF MusicianFest Grants

In addition to regular grants, the MPTF also runs the MusicianFest program. Member Tim Van Egmond reports,

“I’ve been fortunate to have a couple MusicianFest grants in the past arranged through the Local, paying 100% for gigs at Senior Centers. I recently asked Richard at the office if a new round of grants was available, and he said there are 10 allotted to the Local and I was the first to express interest. I thought I’d spread the word a bit.

The fiscal year for this bunch of grants ends on April 30th. In the past the payment has been about $200 plus pension contribution.”

At this time Local 1000 has several slots still available. If you would like more information on how to apply for one of these grants, please contact Richard in the office.

Emergency Relief Fund

Local 1000’s Emergency Relief Fund still has grants available to help with expenses during the pandemic.  Grants of up to $1000 are available to members in good standing while funds last. Please note, members who have previously received an ERF grant cannot apply for a second one at this time.

To apply for a grant or to donate to keep the fund healthy for members in need, visit our website or contact Richard at the office.

Folk Alliance International Conference 2022 POSTPONED

The 2022 Folk Alliance International Conference has changed dates, and will now take place May 18 – 22, 2022. Local 1000 will be there publicizing our Fair Trade Music campaign. The conference will be a hybrid event, with the in-person portion will be held at the Westin Crown Center Hotel in Kansas City, Missouri.
The conference theme is Living Traditions and will showcase various traditional folk music forms regionally, nationally, and internationally. The theme will be explored through topics of music preservation, migration, evolution, and authenticity, while the Global Summit will highlight the work of folklorists.

Local 1000 will be at the conference hosting our regular Showcase Free Zone room as well as having a booth in the exhibition hall. If you plan to attend please stop by one of our events.

If you are interested in attending and need a discount code please contact Aaron Fowler.

Solidarity News

Thanks to member Al Bradbury for these items from https://labornotes.org/

Mexican Auto Workers Win Landmark Vote for Independent Union

Auto workers at a massive General Motors plant in central Mexico voted overwhelmingly to choose an independent union, in a big step toward breaking the stranglehold of the employer-friendly unions that have long dominated Mexico’s labor scene. The new union grew partly from the campaign to reinstate a group of workers who were fired after refusing overtime in solidarity with striking U.S. GM workers. Mexico’s labor law reform, passed in 2019, requires unions to hold secret-ballot votes to validate all existing collective bargaining agreements; it’s intended to allow workers to democratically choose their unions, a freedom long denied to Mexican workers. READ MORE.

Striking Massachusetts Nurses Outwait Corporate Giant Tenet

Last year’s longest-running strike came to an end in January when nurses at St. Vincent Hospital in Worcester, Massachusetts, ratified their new contract and returned to work. Seven hundred nurses had walked out over dangerous staffing conditions 10 months earlier; they stood out for their willingness to strike indefinitely and for the discipline they showed. Tenet was a formidable opponent: a massive for-profit health care corporation valued at $8 billion. The strikers won improved requirements on staffing, a critical issue for health care workers everywhere, and stood up to Tenet’s creative attempts to break the union. READ MORE.

Rail Unions Are Bargaining Over a Good Job Made Miserable

Contract negotiations covering 115,000 rail workers in the U.S. are expected to heat up in 2022. Workers are seething over the impact of extreme cost-cutting measures. It used to be unheard-of to leave a railroad job before retirement, but the railroads have created a crisis: they’ve laid off so many people that many of those who remain consider the situation unbearable. Rail unions are escalating through the slow steps of negotiations under the Railway Labor Act—toward a resolution, a strike, or a lockout. READ MORE.

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!

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

February Birthdays

Finally, we would like to wish the following members Happy Birthday! If your birthday falls in February 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 Arthur McGregor and Tim Van Egmond.

In Solidarity,

AFM Local 1000