Minutes of the
SOUTHERN CONFERENCE OF LOCALS of the AMERICAN FEDERATION OF MUSICIANS
JUNE 23rd & 24th, 2018
Miami Beach Resort & Spa Miami Beach, FL 33140
Saturday, June 23, 2018
Conference called to order at 10:01 A.M.
by Jeff Apana, President of the Southern Conference
President Apana welcomes the delegates to Miami Beach, Fl; Vice
President Stewart Williams, led the delegates in the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Delegates remain standing while Mike Avila, Delegate from Local 389, delivers the Invocation.
President Apana asks for a motion to approve the 2017 Minutes and the Agenda for the 2018 Conference.
New Motion to append the Agenda to include a presentation by SAGAFTRA – Telemundo Organizing Campaign. Approved
President Apana appoints Richard Sparrow to be Sargent at Arms.
& Guests are recognized:
the AFM:
IR Cass Acosta
Organizing Michael Manley
IEB John Acosta
International President Ray Hair
International VP Bruce Fife
International Sec/Treas. Jay Blumenthal
IEB Tino Gagliardi
SSD Rochelle Skolnick
IEB Dave Pomeroy
Legislative Director Alfonso Pollard
Communications Rose Ryan
President Charles Reskin welcomes the conference to Miami Beach. He
gave the conference an impression of what it was like growing up in
Miami.
New delegates are introduced to the conference:
• Andy Bruck – Local 444, Jacksonville, FL.
• Elizabeth Pistolesi – Local 342, Charlotte, NC
• Nicole Bogatz – Local 433, Austin, TX
• Megan Chisom – Local 80, Chattanooga, TN
• Jessica Kunttu, Local 500, Raleigh, NC
• Banu Gibson, Local 174-496, New Orleans, LA
• Cindy Mayes, Local 174-496, New Orleans, LA
• Jonathan Bradley, Local 362-691, Huntington, WV
• Chas Reskin, Local 655, Ft. Lauderdale, Fl
President Apana welcomes the new delegates to the conference.
International President Ray is invited to speak next. He shared with
the conference that he is a member of three Southern Conference Locals.
He then gave a brief synopsis of what has been going on with MPTF, the
Special Payments fund, and other ways that he is trying to create new
monies for the pension fund, He talked about the residentials we are
now getting from live streaming events and he went on to explain the
various negotiations that he is doing .
He explained why we did not move to the new location; it would have
cost too much to buy the top floor. So, they looked for an alternative
place to go and landed a good deal on the 9th floor of 1501 Broadway.
The next thing of the day was a pension presentation the several trustees from the AFM-EPF.
After the pension presentation we took a lunch break.
After lunch, the afternoon session started off with a presentation by
Jay Blumenthal. He started off by saying that the he and Ray and the
IEB work much like a team.
Members come first; politics come second. Revenue streams are
finally paying off. We have a surplus in funds. Declining
membership is a major concern of his.
He spoke on the building project and gave us some details as to why we did not move into the new building.
He gave us highlights on the AFL-CIO Convention.
The I.M. has a new editorial board fourteen people will de deciding on the will be in the publication.
He reminded us of the Lester Petrillo Fund, and the Hurricane Relief
fund; he us information on the amount of money that went to help people
who lost so much during the hurricane season. After the hurricanes came
the wildfires, which also impacted the lives of many musicians.
After Jay, we had a presentation by Dan Beck. He thanks the conference
for inviting him to speak. The trust fund has had a lot of challenges,
but we are beginning to see the light. The recently negotiated
contracts that incorporate streaming had proven to be good for MPTF.
He explains how MPTF grants are allocated, and said educational programs are good to invest in.
After Dan Beck, Rochelle Skolnick from SSD told us about all of the
things that are happening in the symphonic world. So far, the 2016-17
-18 seasons have been very quiet as far as strikes are concerned.
We have three negotiators: Chris Durham, Jane Own, and Todd Jelen;
Online resource center is run by Laurence Hoffman, Debbie Newmark is
electronic media. There are a lot of resources available to our members
thru the online resource center.
After Rochelle’s presentation, committee assignments were made. See the attached sheet for committee assignments.
2:40 pm – Short Break.
The afternoon session was started off with a presentation on the organizing campaign for the Telemundo Center.
Two speakers, Huerta Suarez & Carmen Olivares showed a video of
what it was like to get out and get the actors to organize for better
wages and benefits, and to be treated fairly in the workplace. The
campaign started back in 2002, and finally they were able to organize
workers, explain to the workers how important it was for them vote to
be unionized. They used social media and go online to get people
involved in their campaign.
After the Telemundo presentation Michael Manley and Rose Ryan did a
presentation on Communicating Your Campaign/Organizing. One part of
organizing is to help people get over their fears.
After the Organizing presentation, we adjourned for the day.
Sunday Morning, we started at 9:00am.
Debbie Dansby Wells led a roundtable discussion on Recruiting a Diverse
Local. The members of her committee, Banu Gibson, Jeff Whaley, Sharon
Wolfolk, and Tammy Kirk spoke on the things that have been doing in
their locals to help recruit new members with various backgrounds and
different genres of music.
Then other delegates spoke on things that they are doing in their locals.
Short beak at 11:00.
Bob McGrew mentioned that the Houston Musicians Federal Credit union
has merged with Space City Credit Union, and that loans are out there
to be made.
Alfonso Pollard gave us his Legislative Report.
One our main concerns now is the National Endowment for the Arts;
congresswoman Chu just concluded her term will be leaving. He shared
with us that one our major leaders in congress, passed prior to the
conference, Louise Slaughter, she was a major supporter for the
National Endowment for the Arts. Alfonso & Ray are working other
folks on the hill so that the work she did will continue to move
forward. The AFM provided music for Louise Slaughter’s service.
Rochelle Skolnick did a presentation on Sexual Harassment. Unions are
being loaded to advocate for the accusers and the accused. She
explained the union’s role in responding to grievances.
Committee reports were next:
Finance Report: Aaron Pino presents the Financial Report, with several recommendations:
To help with cash flow problems, the conference might consider buying a
screen- would save money on rentals each year; hosting local could find
donated sound equipment to help with the AV costs, and last, propose an
emergency recommendation to increase the registration fee from $75 to
$100 per delegate or guest.
Motion was made and carried.
Bylaws: Gary Williams No recommendations, no action.
Credentials: Charles Reskin, there are 33 Locals in the Southern Conference, 24 present, 9 absent.
Motion was made and carried.
Resolutions Committee: Bob McGrew - Emergency Resolution presented from Andy Bruck. Approved as amended.
Appreciations: John Lindberg thanks Jeff Apana, Lovie Smith-Wright, Ray
Hair and the IEB, Jay Blumenthal, Dan Beck, Rochelle Skolnick, Rose
Ryan & Michael Manley for their work.
He moved for the adoption of the Appreciation’s Report.
TEMPO: John Howe
Pleased to go over our new tempo members
of 35 attendees, 25 are new Tempo Club Members, the rest are already members, plus $360 in contributions.
Grand total for TEMPO is $,1660.00.
Tempo Drawing:
Bags: Sharon Wolfolk, Laura Ross, John Lindberg, Stewart Williams (2);
Book – Cass Acosta, Wine Goblet Jonathan Bradley; wine glasses/book –
Jeff Apana.
Jeff Apana adjourns the conference.
The following delegates with proper credentials are present:
Local # City
Delegates
23 San Antonio Joan Carroll
65-699 Houston Bob McGrew
Lovie Smith-Wright
71 Memphis John Sprott
72 –147 Dallas Ft Worth Stewart Williams
Aaron Pino
80 Chattanooga Megan Chisom
94 Tulsa Tammy Kirk
Bruce Schultz
116 Shreveport John Howe
123 Richmond George Tuckwiller II
125 Norfolk John Lindberg
148-462 Atlanta Bruce Kenney
Christina Ottaviano
161-710 Washington, DC Ed Malaga
Sharon Wolfolk
Marta Bradley
174-496 New Orleans Cindy Mayes
Banu Gibson
256-733 Birmingham Michael Bradt
257 Nashville Dave Pomeroy
Laura Ross
Vince Santoro
297 Wichita Dennis Danders
342 Charlotte Elizabeth Pistolesi
362-691 Jonathan Bradley
375-703 Oklahoma City Kate Pritchett
389 Orlando Sam Zambito
Deborah Dansby Wells
Mike Avila
427-721 St Petersburg Richard Sparrow
433 Nicole Bogatz
444 Jacksonville Andy Bruck
447-704 Savannah Paul Lott
500 Raleigh Jessica Kunttu
546 Knoxville Jeffrey Whaley
579 Jackson Mimi Linehan
655 Miami Jeffrey Apana
Charles Reskin
674 Covington Gary Williams
777 Biloxi