NEW YOTK CITY LOCAL 802

COLLECTIVE BARGAINING

AGREEMENT

between

SINGLE ENGAGEMENT

CLUB DATE EMPLOYERS

and

ASSOCIATED MUSICIANS OF GREATER NEW YORK, LOCAL 802, AFM, AFL-CIO

Club Date Players Rally Against Givebacks

SHOW OF UNITY SETS CONTRACT TALKS BACK ON TRACK

SOME 200 ANGRY MUSICIANS

crowded Local 802's Club Room on
the evening of April 12 for a meeting
and rally called by the rank-and-file
Club Date Committee.

For nearly two hours, the 4oom
echoed with the voices of musicians
outraged by leader-employers' de-
mands for givebacks and fed up with
a lack of progress, up to that point, in
negotiations for a new single engage-
ment club date agreement.

The musicians adopted a resolution
declaring that they would "not accept
a contract offer that includes a rollback
or freeze in either scale or benefits"
[see "Musicians Show Their Resolve,"
page 3]. The resolution urged club date
offices "to get down to serious bargain-
ing toward a new contract that
recognizes the needs of not just the
employers but also the musicians."

[The club date players' firm stance
seemed to pay off in subsequent nego-
tiating sessions on the new agreement.
As Allegro goes to press, the contract
talks appear headed toward a suc-
cessful conclusion.-Ed.]

President Bill Moriarity opened the
April 12 meeting by outlining the
leaders' demands, which included cuts
continued on page 3

Club date musicians pack the Local 802 Club Room for the April 12 meeting and rally against leader employers' demands for wage and benefit concessions.

Club Date

ontinued from page 1

n wage scales and the elimination of
breaks, among other concessions. He
said the union's negotiating committee
nad rejected those proposals but
wanted to hear members' opinions.

Musician after musician stood at a
floor mike and condemned the idea of
cutting scales or benefits. One said he
was on a job where the caterer was
getting a commission of 35 percent.
"How dare they ask us to take a cut,"
the musicians shouted, "when they're
kicking back that kind of money to the
caterer!"

Another speaker said, "We-the
musicians-we're the show. These of-
fices are basically booking agents, and
where else in the business does the
agent get more off a gig than the act?"
A musician who appeared to speak

A veteran player who had been in-
volved in negotiations more than 20
years ago recalled the long struggle to
get the club date scale to where it is
today. He urged musicians to do
"whatever it takes" to protect gains
made by the union in this field.

One of the younger musicians pres-
ent summed up the evening's spirit
near the end of the meeting. "I come
to the gig on the subway," he said. "I
can't accept less for a job. We have the
power. If we stick together, we have
more power than we know" #

Veteran club dater Ted Diamond addresses the crowd as President Bill Moriarity, left, and Club Date Committee chair Art Weiss, center, look on.

Musicians Robert Shankin, left, and Wayne Andre, standing at right, exchange viewpoints at the April 12 club date meeting.

time club date player Julie Schwartz takes note of the many younger musicians tendance.

Musicians Show Their Resolve

CLUB DATE MUSICIANS passed the
following resolution at their rank-and-file
meeting in Local 802's Club Room on
the evening of April 12:

WHEREAS Local 802, American
Federation of Musicians, in behalf of
nearly 1,000 club date musicians, is
currently engaged in contract negotia-
tions with major orchestra offices in
New York City and Long Island; and

WHEREAS these same orchestra of-
fices, after several bargaining ses-
sions, have made no movement

"Without us, the gig
does not happen."

towards an acceptable agreement with
Local 802 and instead are insisting
upon onerous cuts in scale and
benefits that would severely impact the
incomes and security of musicians;
and

WHEREAS the incomes of musi-
cians have already been slashed by
the generally depressed economic
conditions in our area, and musicians
can hardly afford to take a double hit
by also cutting scale for the work that
remains; and

WHEREAS we, the musicians,
through our talents and hard work, are
primarily responsible for whatever suc-
cess and musical reputation these or-
chestra offices have achieved; and

WHEREAS without us, the gig does
not happen;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED
that the musicians attending this club
date rally on April 12, 1993, at Local
802 headquarters, 322 West 48th
Street, hereby declare that they will not
accept a contract offer that includes a
rollback or freeze in either scale or
benefits; and that further, we urge the
orchestra offices to get down to serious
bargaining toward a new contract that
recognizes the needs of not just the
employers but also the musicians. #