Local 1000 June 2021 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
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
I hope all of you are safe and doing well. I am excited to see many of our members getting back to work, out on the road, and performing in face to face shows (stay safe!). I was glad for the technology that allowed me to perform virtual, but for me, there is nothing more satisfying than making music with and for people sitting in the same room.
There are lots of things brewing with your Local. The Ex. Board held a retreat in late April to vision our Local going forward. It was an exciting time to examine our past and recount the heads and shoulders we stand on and to look forward to what our union can be as we all work together to achieve a more solid footing in our work of bringing music to the world. One important way to do this is to make sure we are creating value in our Union and then supporting that vision as we move forward.
The board wants to make sure everything we do as a Union falls into in to at least one of three “buckets.” First, a bucket that looks at benefit to membership. Second, a bucket that builds our base. And third, a bucket that works to make an impact for our members and the music industry at large?
We discussed several projects that can begin to achieve these goals but we will need your help. There are lots of ways for you to get involved in your Union. A primary way is to join one of our committees and help carry the load. The committees are listed on our website so check it out and see where you might assist. The work won’t get done unless you put yourself in the action. We will be brining several ideas to the membership at our first membership meeting on Saturday June 19th at 2:00 PM EST. Please make sure you mark your calendar for this meeting. It will be virtual.
There are so many great articles in this newsletter so please avail yourself to them. Join us as we build connections with each other through networking that will create value for each of us and then make an impact in the music world.
Together We Are Mighty!
Aaron
Membership Meeting June 19th 2021
Our first membership meeting of 2021 will take place on Zoom. This membership meeting is open to all members in good standing. The board will be presenting some new ideas that are intended to build membership, provide stronger benefits to our members, and work toward a Local that is able to make a deeper impact for our members and the folk music world in general.
Local 1000 Membership Meeting Details
Date: June 19, 2021
Time: 2:00 PM EST; 1:00 PM CST; 12:00 PM Mountain; 11:00 AM Pacific
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86426481286?pwd=Qno4VmRySEUzKzNRRlR1VHRaSkhFQT09Meeting ID: 864 2648 1286
Passcode: 042144Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kdIJzc4zKi
Future membership meetings will be held on:
Saturday, August 21st
Saturday, November 13th
Folk Alliance Village Fund
Attention Members!
Folk Alliance’s Village Fund is now accepting applications for Covid-19 grant assistance.
The Village Fund is designed to provide support for musicians and independent music industry professionals in need. The minimum requirements include:
- Proof of past association with Folk Alliance International (membership, FAI conference attendance, or regional conference attendance)
- Proof of work in the music industry
- Statements of financial burden or loss of income
- Evidence of need (2019 or 2020 income tax return AND a current bank statement)
More info at: https://folk.org/resources/the-village-fund/
Emergency Relief Fund COVID-19 Grants are still available to AFM Local 1000 members!
Thanks to the incredible generosity of our members and our large community of fans and friends, Local 1000’s Emergency Relief Fund has been able to give out grants totalling over $38,000 to our members during the pandemic. These grants have helped keep your union sisters and brothers afloat during these hard times.
We still have a limited number of ERF grants of up to $1000 per applicant available to members in good standing, while funds last.
To apply for a grant, visit this link: https://www.local1000.org/local-1000-emergency-relief-fund-covid-19/
With an eye to keeping the ERF healthy for the future, Local 1000 is very grateful for ongoing donations and for your additional fundraising efforts.
To donate, visit this link and use the pull-down menu to specify the ERF: https://www.local1000.org/donate/
Coffee Hours
Hello, union family!
Our Local 1000 Coffee Hours will be changing it up a bit for the summer months. Annie and I are taking a break from hosting and other wonderful folks are stepping in to keep it going. All Local 1000 members are welcome to join.
Deborah Van Kleef will host our next Coffee Hour on July 7th. The Zoom link will be available and shared soon.
Solidarity News
Thanks to member Al Bradbury for these items from Labor Notes.
For Pride Month, Here’s Your Definitive Reading List on Queerness and Work: Early writing about LGBT folks focused on sexual and social culture, but this century has seen an increase of books that consider the workplace. In this lively round-up, author Anne Balay recommends nonfiction titles on marine cooks, steelworkers, truck drivers, flight attendants, university faculty, and more. She argues that these books enable us to think about labor organizing “queerly”—in ways that undermine power norms and hierarchies–enabling a collective resistance that’s for everybody and changes everything. Read more.
Can a Driver Uprising Make Food Apps Deliver? A year ago when the lockdowns hit, many low-wage immigrants in housekeeping, food service, and construction were laid off and cast out into the streets. They needed a job, fast, with no-frills onboarding. In New York City, many signed up to work for app-based companies, schlepping food and commodities to New Yorkers sheltering at home. Now these workers are testing their newfound power in numbers, building up committees throughout the boroughs, and notching their first wins against the tech giants. A recent rally drew 2,000 people. Read more.
Pension Fund Update!
Following the passage of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) the AFM-EPF Trustees met to review an actuarial analysis of the pension relief provisions, and they decided to withdraw the Plan’s application to reduce benefits under the Multiemployer Pension Reform Act (MPRA). The U.S. Department of the Treasury has been notified of the decision.
As a result, there will be no MPRA benefit reductions. Please disregard the “Notice of a Proposed Reduction of Your Pension Benefit” that you received in January 2021.
The Trustees will apply for financial assistance under ARPA, which is intended to permit the Plan to pay benefits for the next 30 years, through 2051. ARPA provides lump sum grants to qualifying multi-employer pension plans, which do not need to be repaid.
New Deal Spring 2021 Still Available
Our yearly journal, The New Deal, is now available. It includes articles on Local 1000’s response to the pandemic, member profiles, a piece remembering Anne Feeney and much more.
Submit Your 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? You can let us know by filling out the form here: https://www.local1000.org/my-account/submit-member-news/
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
MPTF Funds for Streaming Concerts
The Music Performance Trust Fund will now fund up to 100% for a free live streamed concert. This is a great opportunity for members make decent money from an online concert. The concert must be sponsored by another organization, and there are specific rules and steps to go through to have your live performance approved. Please contact the office at [email protected] for more information.
Union Protection for Self-Presented Live Streams
The Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) is a simple AFM contract that you can sign for self-presented live stream concerts which will safeguard your performing rights if the content is used by another organization in future. We’d like to encourage all our members to use this contract for self-presented streaming concerts.
Local 1000 Livestream Guidelines
The Local 1000 Fair Trade Music Committee, following on the recommendations from the AFM, has created guidelines for negotiating with venues for live stream concert engagements. These are guidelines to help you negotiate fair deals with presenting organizations that take into account how long a live stream will be left up on the internet, what are minimum guarantees and minimum percentages for income earned through a livestream concert, and so on.
Canadian Corner
Local 1000 Canadian Committee
Our new Vice President from Canada, Arthur McGregor is seeking volunteers from Local 1000 to participate in the Canadian Committee. If you are interested, please contact him at [email protected]
Member News
Do you have a new album coming out? Did you recently receive an award?
If you have exciting news to share with Local 1000 members, we want to know. Submit Your News Here!
Local 1000 member Anne Feeney was laid to rest in the Union Miner’s Cemetary (next to her hero, Mother Jones) on May 1, 2021, International Workers’ Day. Rest in Power, Anne.
Cathy Fink and Marcy A. Marxer are raising money to produce Marcy’s musical “All Wigged Out,” a hilarious and poignant show about her cancer experience. You can help by donating to the GoFundMe campaign here.
Learn more here.Deidre McCalla was given a 2021 SERFA Award “for distinguished service and exceptional contributions to folk music in the Southeast Region of Folk Alliance International”
Michael Miles’ “Mississippi River Suite” CD broke into the top 10 on the Folk Alliance International Folk Radio Chart for the month of March. The track “Which Side Are You On? ENOUGH” was the #7 Song for the month.
June Birthdays
Finally, we would like to wish the following members Happy Birthday! If your birthday falls in June and you don’t see it listed below, or if the date is incorrect, please send an email to our Birthday Bunny, Deborah Van Kleef with your birthdate, current phone number and email address.
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John Adler Mark Anderson Charles Bernhardt Scott Berwick Jamie Bonk Randy Browning Heather Dale Jonathan Foster Robert Fox Scott Gerber Spook Handy Leslie Hudson Diana Jones Colleen Kattau Erin M. Lewis Aaron Lightstone Sarah Marchand |
Michael McAuley Deidre McCalla Andrew McLaren Hugh McMillan Hannah Naiman Holly Near John O’Connor Charlie Pilzer Melinda Pittman Laura Risk Dan Schatz Wade Sharp Joe Stanton Ernest Troost Cody Walters Kirby Yarbrough Natalia Zukerman |
In Solidarity,
AFM Local 1000
