Local 1000 September 2020 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
MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Our next membership meeting is Saturday, November 7th on Zoom.
We will be electing new members of the board, and taking care of some other important business. We hope you can join us!
Local 1000 Membership Meeting
Saturday Nov 7 at 2pm ET on Zoom
Click here to join: Zoom link
Meeting ID: 833 0484 7235
Passcode: 277797
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kbM43HajeZ
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS!
Nominations are open for the following Local 1000 Executive Board positions: President, Vice President from Canada, and Midwest Rep.
The nominating committee is charged to ensure that there is at least one nominee for each open position. Nominations are open until the end of call for nominations at the Fall 2020 Local 1000 Membership Meeting. (Membership meeting details are below.)
If you are interested in running or would like to nominate a candidate, please contact our Nominations Committee Chair, Charlie King at [email protected]
EMERGENCY RELIEF FUNDS AVAILABLE
Local 1000 is committed to helping any member who finds themselves in financial crisis due to the current Covid-19 situation. Through the generous contributions of our members and their fans we are able to provide no-interest loans of up to $500 to be repaid over 5 years for members in immediate need during this crisis. To apply, you must be a current member in good standing, or have been a member in good standing as of December 31st, 2019.
In order to help those most in need, we are asking you to apply for this money when you have an immediate need to pay basic costs of rent, household expenses, medical care, etc. If you are able to get by with less than $500, please request a lower amount so we can distribute to as many people as possible.
To access the application please go to https://www.local1000.org/local-1000-emergency-relief-fund-covid-19/
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.
LOCAL 1000 COFFEE HOURS
Every two weeks, Local 1000 member Annie Patterson hosts the Local 1000 Member Coffee Hour. This is not a union business meeting — it’s a social hour meant to help Local 1000 members connect, de-stress, share support and resources and get to know each other better. Please join us! Thanks to Annie for her help in creating this resource for members.
Next dates:
Wednesday Sept 30
Wednesday Oct 14
Wednesday Oct 28
Wednesday Nov 11
@4pm EDT/3pmCDT/1pmPDT on Zoom
Click here to join: Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 890 6353 9938
Password: 651074
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kcTSR0wLdf
Labor Connection
We are introducing a new feature to our monthly newsletter on labor history. We tend to think that everything about our age is happening for the first time. It’s helpful…and essential!…to know our history, how those before us faced their challenges, what they learned, how they won.
Member Al Bradbury is going to be contributing a regular column in our monthly newsletters on better connecting to the labor movement, a wider social movement, and, yes, our history as union workers. Thank you Al!
To start, here’s a video she suggested about why we should learn labor history: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pObqZbUOyg4
Canadian Corner
Changes to Federal Government Covid Benefits
The Canadian government has announced changes to the current benefits being offered to Canadians who are out of work due to the pandemic. One more four-week period was added to the Canadian Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), making the maximum benefit period 28 weeks. As CERB winds down, they have announced a plan to transition people needing assistance either to Employment Insurance (EI), or to three new benefits, including the Canada Recovery Benefit meant for those who are ineligible for EI. More information on all these announcements is available here.
Details on the Canada Recovery Benefit will be announced on this page soon: www.canada.ca/coronavirus
We will try to keep you informed of the details as we learn them.
P2 Changes
United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has implemented fee increases and other changes effective October 2, 2020. These increases have gone through despite AFM’s vast lobbying in opposition to these amendments, the potential of which was announced by USCIS in December 2019.
The new fee for a P2 (and all categories of P Visa) will be $695 USD, and $705 USD for O Visas. At this time the recommended processing time is still 60 calendar days. The Premium Processing fee of $1440 remains unchanged, but the processing time has increased from 15 calendar days to 15 business days.
More information available on the Canadian Federation of Musicians (CFM) website: https://cfmusicians.afm.org/services/work-permits
US Citizens Living in Canada: VOTE!
US citizens living in Canada are eligible to vote in this November’s Federal Election. We are urging all who are eligible to register for their absentee ballot and make sure they return it as quickly as possible. This election is absolutely critical and your vote could make a big difference in key areas.
You can also fill out and return a back-up write-in ballot now.
More information available at https://www.votefromabroad.org/
Please contact President Goldberg at [email protected] if you would like assistance with this process.
Advocating for a Disaster-Proof Plan
This Labour Day, the CFM joins with other Canadian labour unions to call for a disaster-proof recovery plan that includes:
* Replacing lost jobs with better ones
* Strengthening Canadian public health care
* Disaster-proofing our social safety net
https://cfmusicians.afm.org/news/the-nation-s-unions-advocate-for-a-disaster-proof-plan
Take Action!
VOTE IN THE US FEDERAL ELECTION
We don’t think we need to remind you that this November’s US election is absolutely critical. Please make sure you register and vote!!
All the info you need is here: https://www.vote.org/
AFM CALL TO ACTION
The AFM is urging members to contact their representatives for the September 1st Red Alert Day of Action. September 1 has past, but the action is ongoing, and you can still participate. As AFM President Ray Hair asked, “Will you join us and urge elected officials to pass a comprehensive set of provisions that help protect the people who make American culture happen?”
Click Here to Send a Letter to Your Representatives in Congress.
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 Mara Levine, whose latest album Facets Of Folk hit #1 on the Folk Alliance International Folk DJ charts and landed at the # 3 spot for 2019, has signed with TN-based label Bell Buckle Records. More information available at www.maralevine.com or www.bellbucklerecords.com.
September Birthdays
Finally, we would like to wish the following members Happy Birthday! If your birthday falls in September 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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09/01 Valdy Horsdal 09/02 Linda Tillery 09/03 James Hill 09/04 Alexandre Millaire 09/05 Andrea Beaton 09/05 Kaia Kater-Hurst 09/07 Teresa Chandler 09/07 Kaitlin Milroy 09/10 Rob Clutton 09/10 David Heitler-Klevans 09/10 Suzanne Jaroszynski 09/11 William McLeod Garrett 09/11 Hank Woji 09/12 Adrian Passarelli 09/13 Joel Mabus 09/14 Elise Witt 09/15 Rosalyn Dennett 09/15 Elijah McKenty 09/17 Terry Irons 09/17 Joel Schwartz 09/18 Peter Alsop |
09/19 Adam Bowman 09/19 Jaron Freeman 09/19 Sally Rogers 09/19 Daniel Rougeau 09/19 Keith Grimwood 09/20 Andre Blais 09/20 Robson Cerqueira 09/22 Scott Ainslie 09/23 Harry Aceto 09/23 Ralph Agresta 09/23 Jason Mercer 09/23 Ani DiFranco 09/23 Tony Nguyen 09/23 Christopher Ousley 09/23 Susan Robinson 09/24 Carol Young 09/25 Stacey Earle 09/28 Gabriel Kahn 09/28 Sue Massek 09/29 Dan Crary 09/30 Kevin Harvey |
In Solidarity,
AFM Local 1000
