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