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
A big thank you to each and every one of you that makes Local 1000 strong. I was at a festival last week, and there were lots of L1K members there. It was fun to see, hear, and work with many of them. We really are family.
Our next Membership Meeting is on November 19th at 4:30-6:30 PM EST at the Northeast Regional Folk Alliance (NERFA) Conference in Asbury Park, NJ. This will be a hybrid meeting – you will be able to attend in person or online. There are lots of important items on the agenda including nominations of new Executive Board members, approving the 2023 budget, and voting on some new bylaw changes. The agenda along with links to meeting documents will be sent out ahead of the meeting.
If you are attending NERFA in person, Local 1000 has secured a discount for L1K members. Please check with the office for more information. We will have a booth in the exhibit hall and we will be running a Showcase Free Zone. Please come by and say hi!
Local 1000 will also be attending the Folk Music Ontario (FMO) Conference, October 13-16, 2022 in London, ON. Our Canadian VP, Arthur McGregor will be hosting a member’s session as well as having a table in the booth area. Check out the article in the newsletter from Arthur!
The DEI working group has done some fantastic work to make our bylaws more inclusive. Please take the time to read the proposed bylaw changes.
We will vote on these changes at the membership meeting.
The Fair Trade Music (FTM) Committee will be launching our new FTM organizing campaign at NERFA. This is an exciting campaign to gather more FTM venues and secure union-scale wages at these venues. A real win-win-win for artists, venues and fans. Stay tuned for all the details. And don’t forget, pick up your campaign swag at https://www.local1000.org/local-1000-merchandise/
Scale wages across the AFM are tragically low for “casual” musicians. Even though L1K scales are among the highest in the AFM, many in our Local believe our scales need to be higher. The scales committee will be presenting a proposal for new scale wages at our November meeting.
Don’t forget to edit your membership profile and add your picture on the new Local1000 website at local1000.org. You must log in to edit your page. If you have any problems logging in please contact Richard in the office at richard@local1000.org.
That’s it for this month. I hope to see you at NERFA, FMO, or at our membership meeting on Nov 19th.
Together we are Mighty!
President Fowler
November Membership Meeting
Our next membership meeting is on November 10th at 4:30-6:30 PM EST. You can attend in person at the NERFA conference or online. There are several important agenda items on the docket including Executive Board elections, adopting some bylaw changes, changes to scale wages, and approving the 2023 budget. Please watch for separate emails regarding each of these items. Below is the zoom link if you cannot be there in person.
Local 1000 Membership Meeting (@ NERFA)
November 10th at 4:30-6:30 PM EST
NERFA Conference (Room TBA)
Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel
1401 Ocean Ave, Asbury Park, NJ
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86919089205?pwd=UlBmUDNIeld3d1VCeDlCRVVwdTJTdz09
Meeting ID: 869 1908 9205
Passcode: 354196
Local 1000 at NERFA
As mentioned above, Local 1000 will be at the NERFA conference in Asbury Park, NJ. Local 1000 has secured a discount for L1K members who are attending in person. Please check with the office to get information.
In addition to holding an in-person (and virtual) membership meeting at the conference, we will have a booth in the exhibit hall and we will be hosting a Showcase Free Zone. For more info, please contact President Fowler at president@local1000.org
Nominating Committee Report
There are two open positions for the board starting Jan 1, 2023 – Western Representative and Secretary Treasurer. Susan Lewis has been nominated for Western Rep and Donna Nestler for Secretary-Treasurer. Nominations are now closed.
Local 1000 at Folk Music Ontario (FMO)
Local 1000 will be at FMO this October in beautiful London, Ontario, Canada, Oct 13 – 16. We’ll have a booth (shared with the Canadian Federation of Musicians) promoting Fair Trade Music. Drop by to get your free Fair Trade Music sticker and consider buying a great-looking t-shirt with the Fair Trade Music logo tastefully printed on the front.
We’ll also be hosting a Local 1000 coffee time, sharing our stories and needs over a cup of Joe! Bring your instruments and we’ll do some playing together. Hope to see you there!
FMO Local 1000 Gathering
Fri Oct 14 at 4 pm
Suite 400 (Duke of Connaught), 3rd floor
DoubleTree by Hilton London 300 King St, London, ON
Arthur McGregor, Canadian Vice President, Local 1000
Emergency Relief Fund Update
One of the best things about our union during the pandemic has been the incredible generosity of our members and fans. When the pandemic hit in March of 2020, our members and our world-wide community rallied to support us with donations to our Emergency Relief Fund so that Local 1000 could offer $1000 grants to members who needed some extra support during this challenging time. Although traditionally, the ERF has been a no-interest loan program, we were beyond thrilled and honored to be able to give away around $40,000 in Covid Relief to our members during the past 2 and a half years.
Your Finance Committee members were instrumental in initiating the fund drive that got this grant program started. Your ERF Committee members kept it going by meeting to review applications and arrange for funds to be dispersed to members. Your devoted Secretary/Treasurer Beth Cahill and your wonderful office manager Richard Coombs shepherded the applications and kept the checks going out to applicants.
As of September 15, 2022, we have now returned to a more humble balance in our ERF account and we think it is time to return to our traditional $500 no-interest loan model for members in need. If you need an emergency loan, your union’s got your back. The no-pressure pay-back period is up to 10 years. To apply, go to: https://www.local1000.org/resources/emergency-relief-fund/
We are grateful and inspired by all who helped their union siblings out by donating to the ERF during the pandemic. Let’s keep that union love flowing by keeping our fund healthy for the future! If you would like to make a donation to help fellow Local 1000 members in need, go to this link and choose Emergency Relief Fund from the pull-down menu: https://www.local1000.org/donate
Love, gratitude and solidarity from your ERF Committee,
Aileen Vance, Erin Mae Lewis and Matt Watroba
Fair Trade Music Report
Annual Dues: $210 USD
Quarterly Dues: $57.52 USD
Fair Trade Music T-shirt: $30 USD & CAD
Being a member of an amazing musical community that has your back: PRICELESS
Caption Contest!
John O’Connor is modeling one of our Fair Trade Music shirts and you can also have one to show that you are eligible to sit at the cool kids table. Since we can’t read John’s mind, perhaps you can give us some insight into what he is thinking as this photo was taken. Send submissions to Debra Cowan.
Shirts are still $30 and include shipping. Purchase here.
If you have purchased your shirt, send a photo of you wearing your shirt to Debra at the above email address.
Website Feedback
Our new website has been live for some time now, but it is still a work in progress, since it is such a complex and large site—and the Communications Committee wants your feedback! Please contact us if you have comments, or if you experience issues like pages not loading, broken links, outdated/missing content, etc. Send your comments to Susan Lewis at rebelgal@comcast.net. Thanks!
Finance Committee Report
The work of the Finance Committee is to plan and oversee a sustainable budget for Local 1000 in order to do the best work possible to serve our membership. The effectiveness of our work within our membership and beyond is determined both by our volunteers and the amount of money we raise internally, primarily through Work Dues.
We have been further challenged in the past several years as opportunities to play have decreased as well as a drop in our membership due to the pandemic. As a result the Executive Board has made some difficult decisions to cut very important outreach items from the budget. One of those areas has been attending industry events where we can talk with musicians about the value of joining Local 1000.
At this time a small percentage of our membership is paying Work Dues. If each of us would either submit contracts and pay our Work Dues or contribute Estimated Work dues we could do so much more to support working musicians.
As we all get back to playing, please don’t forget to make your Work Dues payments, either with a contract (LS1 or LPCC), a CBA (Collective Bargaining Agreement) or through the Estimated Work Dues option. Estimated Work Dues can be streamlined by making a simple automatic payment of just $10 per month.
With less than 20% of our members paying work dues, currently we are bringing in less than $4,900 each year in Work Dues. Think about it: if just 50% of our membership gave the estimated work dues of $10 a month, that would increase our resources to $20K! If 75% made that contribution the increase would be to $30K! If everyone on did, our increase would be to $40K a year. Think of how that can increase our outreach!!
Let’s change the paradigm and really begin to support our work so more folks will want to join this incredible group of working musicians.
Local 1000 Virtual Union Coffee Hours
Local 1000 Virtual Union Coffee Hours return this fall! Annie Patterson & Aileen Vance will again be hosting a social hour on the last Wednesday of each month. Please join us for this informal hour of conversation and support with your union family.
Fall 2022 Meeting Dates:
All Wednesdays: October 26, Nov 30, December 28
12pm Pacific / 2pmCentral / 3pmEastern
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84571199711?pwd=M09IRktXalhOU3d2clNsL0FWWDd1UT09
Meeting ID: 845 7119 9711
Passcode: 787295
Find your local number: https://us02web.zoom.us/u/kb3y8kYF1j
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
Work Dues Equivalency/Solidarity Pledge
Are you signed up for monthly Estimated Work Dues or Solidarity Pledge payments?
Learn more here.
Music Performance Trust Fund Grants Available
You can get up to 50% funding for a live or streaming concert through the Music Performance Trust Fund of the AFM. You will need a co-sponsoring organization, and applications must be submitted 30 days in advance of the performance. Please contact Richard in the office for more information (with email/phone number).
MusicianFest Grants Available
MusicianFest is a specific project of the Music Performance Trust Fund that supports performances in seniors residences. Local 1000 has been allocated 5 grants for members through the MusicFest program. Please contact Richard in the office for more info.
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
October Birthdays
Finally, we would like to wish the following members Happy Birthday! If your birthday falls in October 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.
Jamie Anderson
Thomas Begich
Evo Bluestein
Gordon Bok
Leigh Cline
Noelle Coughlin
Renee Coughlin
Davy Gallant
Anna Gallup
David Gans
James Keelaghan
Jadea Kelly
Maura Kennedy
Seamus Kennedy
Julia Lane
Danny Lapidus
Mara Levine
Kevin Maul
Erin McKeown
Kurt Neilsen
Lowry Olafson
Anne Patterson
Kathy Peters
Chris Quinn
Marni Rachmiel
Lynn Rowan
Carl Rufh
Orit Shimoni
Laura Spink
Deborah Van Kleef
Sandra Wong
Bob Wright
In Solidarity,
AFM Local 1000