Download - American Guild of Musical Artists

THE AMERICAN GUILDOFMUSICAL ARTISTSINFORMATIONFORNEW AND PROSPECTIVE MEMBERSRevised June 2011

AMERICAN GUILD OF MUSICAL ARTISTS, AFL-CIO1430 BROADWAYNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK 10018-3308(212) 265-3687 / (800) 543-2462Fax (212) 262-9088www.MusicalArtists.orgJames Odom, PresidentJohn Coleman, First Vice PresidentGregory Stapp, Second Vice PresidentSara Stewart Schumann, Third Vice PresidentMaren Montalbano, Fourth Vice PresidentJ Austin Bitner, Fifth Vice PresidentKeith Miller, TreasurerLouis Perry, Recording SecretaryNational Executive DirectorAlan S. GordonCOUNSELGeneral CounselBruce SimonCohen, Weiss and Simon330 West 42 nd StreetNew York, New York 10036(212) 265-3687Chicago CounselBarbara J. HillmanCornfield and Feldman25 East Washington Street,Suite 1400Chicago, IL 60602(312) 236-7800SPECIAL COUNSELAREA OFFICESMid-AtlanticEleni KallasAGMADC@comcast.net(301) 869-8266San FranciscoNora Heiber459 Fulton StreetSan Francisco, CA 94102nheiber@earthlink.net(415) 552-2800Southern CaliforniaJohn RussumAGMALA@ca.rr.com(310) 215-9554Gail Lopez-HenriquezFreedman & Lorry1601 Market StreetPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania 19106(215) 925-8400

AGMADear New and Prospective Members:The American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO is the labor union that represents opera andconcert singers, production personnel and dancers at principal opera, concert and dance companiesthroughout the United States.As AGMA’s National Executive Director, it’s my job to serve as the union’s chief administrativeofficer and principal contract negotiator and to supervise our staff of exceptional negotiators, attorneysand contract administrators.By becoming a member of AGMA, you join in a long tradition of men and women within theUnited States and throughout the rest of the world who have recognized the inherent value of having aunion negotiate their agreements and pursue their workplace concerns while they spend their own timeperfecting their craft.In addition to improving contractual provisions for members’ wages, hours and terms andconditions of employment, we work to expand protection of health and safety concerns and towards theelimination of hazardous workplace conditions such as poisonous smoke and fog and unsafe raked stages.Additionally, we are always available to assist you in any way necessary to protect the multitude of yourprofessional and legal rights.We solicit and welcome your participation in AGMA’s activities and encourage you to play anactive role in the governance of your union. All members in good standing, including new members, canrun for election to AGMA’s Board of Governors.Like the other members of AGMA’s professional staff, I am here and available to assist youwhenever you have questions or need help. Please feel free to call upon me at any time, at 1-800-543-2462 or via e-mail at AGMANY@AOL.COM.Also, please regularly visit our website, at www.musicalartists.org.Cordially,Alan S. GordonAlan S. GordonNational Executive Director

WHAT IS AGMA?AGMA is a labor union. Because performing artists live to perform, they are vulnerable toemployer exploitation, unfair and unsafe conditions and illegal discrimination. They can find theprotection they need by joining AGMA – the American Guild of Musical Artists.Performing artists support themselves with their talents and skill, but the beauty they create doesn’tnecessarily pay the rent or the doctor bills. It doesn’t put food on the table or guarantee any of theother necessities of life. It doesn’t even assure that the artists can continue to develop their craft.Without forceful advocacy of their interests, artists can be subjected to abuse, to unfair pay withoutbenefits, to unsafe and unprofessional working conditions, and no job security.AGMA negotiates collective bargaining agreements for its members that provide them with thesevital benefits: guaranteed salaries; rehearsal and overtime pay; regulated work hours; vacation andsick pay; access to low-cost health benefits; good-faith resolution of disputes; and protection oftheir legal and contractual rights.AGMA represents all of the artists at most of America’s leading opera and dance companies, andmany other performing arts institutions. All of these performers have concluded that being part ofour union has significantly enhanced their earning power.AGMA artists throughout the USA enjoy greater prestige; better performing conditions and ahigher quality of life because of the American Guild of Musical Artists. That’s why we hope youwill join us in the mission for which AGMA was first created: to protect performers and enhancethe image of musical artists everywhere.AGMA is unique among entertainment unions: Despite the fact that AGMA is the smallest ofthe talent unions, it is unique in several important respects: First, unlike SAG, AFTRA or Equity,AGMA recognizes the need for performers to accept as much work as is possible and,consequently, AGMA doesn’t prohibit its members from working non-union jobs. Second,although it has the lowest initiation fees and dues of any talent union, AGMA has iron-clad, ‘realworld’ contracts and a staff of exceptionally skilled negotiators and attorneys to provide extensiveservices to our members. Third, it’s the only entertainment union that, while being professionallyadministered, is actually run entirely by its members. Our leadership, members who are elected byother members, creates AGMA’s policies which are then, in turn, implemented by its professionalstaff. Fourth, AGMA does not have nationwide votes on its collective bargaining agreements. Onlythose members who actually work for any particular AGMA company can vote on the ratificationof contracts that effect them. Fifth, AGMA doesn’t ‘organize’ in the traditional union sense. Wedon’t attempt to convince performers to join. Rather, when a non-member asks us why it’s good tobelong, we tell them to ask any AGMA member. Once you’ve worked in an AGMA house afterworking non-union, you’ll immediately understand the kind of protections you get under anAGMA contract. Sixth, despite a nationwide decrease in union membership, AGMA’s membershiphas continued to grow at a rate of 1% per month. Finally, and perhaps most important, AGMA is anentirely ‘open’ union and membership in AGMA is available to artists at any time in their careers.Through AGMA, performers win therespect and recognition they deservefor the beauty they create.

How Does AGMA Work?AGMA is an entirely democratic and open union, governed by its members.All union officers are artists chosen through elections in which every member in good standing iseligible to vote.The Board of Governors, the governing body of AGMA, is responsible for final approval of allcontracts, management of union funds, and for protecting all members from unfair or unsafepractices and conditions. Any active member in good standing is eligible to run for a seat on theBoard. Elections for the Board are held in three-year cycles and elections of all officers are heldbiennially.AGMA is a National Union, without a system of locals. To assure democratic representation,however, AGMA does have a structure of geographical areas for service on the Board ofGovernors. Many areas elect a Local Area Committee and an Area Chairperson. Members areencouraged to attend area meetings and other local area functions during the course of the year.A member's area is determined by their primary address on record at AGMA unless he or shedesignates a different area based on their pattern of employment. Within each area, thecomposition of the Board of Governors is based on a formula of members in good standing (paidto date) for each of the following categories: Soloist, Chorister, Dancer, Choreographer,Actor, Stage Manager and Stage Director.01 New YorkAREA02 Southern California03 Chicago/MidwestCoverageConnecticut, New Jersey (northern), New York,Outside the United StatesArizona, California (southern), Hawaii and NewMexicoIllinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan,Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio,South Dakota and Wisconsin04 San Francisco California (northern), Colorado, Nevada and UtahAlabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and05 New OrleansTennessee06 Philadelphia New Jersey (southern) and Pennsylvania (eastern)Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina,07 Washington/Baltimore South Carolina, Virginia, Washington D.C. and WestVirginia08 Pittsburgh Pennsylvania (western)09 New England10 Texas Area Texas and Oklahoma11 NorthwestMaine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Islandand VermontAlaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, andWyoming

WHY SHOULD I JOIN?Do you need AGMA? AGMA protects its members. We negotiate contracts, called collectivebargaining agreements, that provide guaranteed wages, safe working conditions, rehearsal andovertime pay, regulated work hours, vacation and sick pay, resolution of disputes and protectionagainst discrimination and abuse in any form. We enforce those contracts. We assure that ourcollective bargaining agreements provide for health insurance, pension coverage, and protectionagainst unreasonable working conditions and unsafe work places, and we make sure thatemployers live up to their contractual obligations. We protect the legal, civil and artistic rights ofour members, through an aggressive, litigious constant vigilance.Does AGMA need you? The strength of the Union is in its members. Your membership andparticipation directly impacts on the strength of AGMA’s bargaining power when it negotiatesyour contracts with your employer. It is very important to make your employer aware, throughyour active membership, that contract issues are important to you. Strong collective bargainingagreements can be maintained only through a strong membership.In seven right-to-work states (Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Texas andVirginia) you have the choice of whether or not to join AGMA. If you chose not to join, you giveup a number of rights, including the right to participate in the formulation of collectivebargaining proposals, the right to be a member of your negotiating committee, the right to attendand participate in local AGMA meetings, the right to run for office and vote for candidates, andthe right to participate in contract ratification votes. For all other performers who work in theother 43 states, payment of initiation fees and dues is mandatory and you can not work for anyAGMA signatory employer unless you satisfy those obligations. Working under an AGMAcontract is a reciprocal privilege of timely payment of your dues and provides the funds withwhich AGMA negotiates and enforces your contracts and protects your rights, all at noadditional cost to you.How do I join?Call AGMA’s Membership Department for information or an application. You can alsodownload an application from our website, www.musicalartists.org.AGMA has a one-time-only Initiation Fee of $500. This tax-deductible fee may be paid by creditcard or by check. The total fee must be paid by the time your income from AGMA engagementsreaches $2000, or three years from the date of your first AGMA contract – whichever comesfirst.Timely payment of dues and Initiation Fees is each members’ individual responsibility. Failureto satisfy your financial obligations will result in the loss of your ‘Member in Good Standing’status, and make you ineligible to work for an AGMA company. If you are in arrears for morethan 90 days you may be suspended and incur a reinstatement fee of $250.00.Basic dues are $78 a year, paid in December for the next calendar year. Working dues are 2% ofthe member’s earnings up to a maximum of $2000 a year, and can be deducted automatically bythe companies for which you work if you sign a check-off authorization. If you don’t authorize acheck-off, it is your responsibility to make payments directly to AGMA.Call the Membership Department - 212-265-3687 or 800-543-2462 -- for assistance with anydues problem or if you do not receive your current AGMA membership card.

AGMA SignatoriesAlvin Ailey American Dance Theater Melodious AccordAmerican Ballet TheatreMerce Cunningham Dance CompanyArizona OperaMetropolitan OperaAscension MusicMichigan Opera TheatreAtlanta BalletMilwaukee BalletBallet Hispanico Music Before 1800BalletMet ColumbusMusica SacraBallet San Jose of Silicon Valley New Orleans OperaBallet TechNew York City BalletBallet WestNew York City OperaBoston BalletNew York City Opera EducationBoston Lyric OperaNew York Concert Singers, Inc.Central City OperaNew York Grand OperaChautauqua OperaNew York PhilharmonicChicago Opera TheatreOpera Company of PhiladelphiaChicago Symphony ChorusOpera Orchestra of New YorkCincinnati BalletOpera Theatre of St. LouisCincinnati OperaPacific Northwest BalletColorado BalletPennsylvania BalletDallas OperaPhiladelphia SingersDance Theatre of HarlemPittsburgh Ballet TheatreDiscovery OrchestraPittsburgh OperaFlorentine OperaPortland OperaFlorida Grand OperaSan Diego OperaGrant Park SymphonySan Francisco BalletGotham Chamber OperaSan Francisco OperaHouston BalletSan Francisco Symphony ChorusHouston Grand OperaSanta Fe OperaJoffrey BalletSeattle OperaKansas City BalletToledo OperaLincoln Center Media Agreement Tri-Cities OperaLos Angeles Master ChoraleTulsa BalletLos Angeles OperaWashington BalletLyric Opera of BaltimoreWashington Concert OperaLyric Opera of ChicagoWashington National OperaLyric Opera of Kansas CityWolf Trap OperaMartha Graham Dance

ADDITIONAL BENEFITSAVAILABLE TO MEMBERSAGMA RELIEF FUNDAGMA members who need emergency financial or social servicesassistance can get help from the AGMA Relief Fund, which isadministered for AGMA by the Actors Fund of America. Members whoneed assistance should call the intake coordinator at:East Coast 212-221-7300 or 800-221-7303Midwest 312-372-0989West Coast 323-933-9244 ext. 55THE ACTORS FUND OF AMERICAThe Actors Fund offers AGMA members access to health & socialservices as well as employment training. Programs include counseling ona broad range of life transitions as well as referrals to housing, legal, childcare, and health services. Visit www.actorsfund.org or call 212-221-7300for more information.CAREER TRANSITION FOR DANCERSAGMA dancers are eligible for counseling, scholarships and workshops toassist dancers in transitioning into other professions. Call 212-764-0172East Coast, 323-549-6660 West Coast, or 312-666-0234 Midwest formore information or visit their website at www.careertransition.orgTEIGITThe Entertainment Industry Group Insurance Trust (TEIGIT) offersAGMA members several options for private Health Insurance coverage.Call 800-886-7504 or 518-348-1270 for information or visit their websiteat www.teigit.com. This service is not available in all states.ACTORS FEDERAL CREDIT UNIONAGMA members are eligible for membership in this not-for-profitbanking cooperative. Call 212-869-8926 for information or visitwww.actorsfcu.com.UNION PLUSWith the savings Union Plus benefits provide, being a union membermakes even greater dollars and sense. Visit www.unionplus.org forinformation of Credit Cards, Education Services, Insurance, and a varietyof Consumer Discounts.ASSISTANCE WITH ISSUES INVOLVING AGENTSAGMA can help you with any problems you encounter in dealing withagents or managers. Contact AGMA’s National Executive Director, on anentirely confidential basis, at AGMANY@aol.com.

USEFUL PHONE NUMBERSAGMA National OfficePhone 212/265-3687Fax 212/262-9088Website www.musicalartists.orgAGMA Retirement and HealthPhone 212/765-3664Fax 212/956-7599Website www.agmaretirement-health.orgAdministrative Services Only (AGMA Health Plan B)Phone 866/263-1185Website www.asonet.comActor’s EquityPhone 212/869-8530Fax 212/768-1277Website www.actorsequity.orgAFTRA NYC (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists)Phone 212/532-0800Fax 212/545-1238Website www.aftra.orgAFM (American Federation of Musicians) Local 802Phone 212/245-4802SAG (Screen Actors Guild) NYC OfficePhone 212/944-1030Fax 212/944-6774Website www.sag.comTEIGIT (Health Insurance)Phone 800/886-7504Fax 518/348-1273Website http://www.teigit.comUNION PRIVILEGE (Special Deals and Discounts for Union Members)Phone 202/293-5330Fax 202/293-5311Website www.unionprivilege.comAGMA’S NATIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTORPhone 800-543-2462Direct E-Mail: AGMANY@AOL.COM

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL CONTRACTED ARTISTSBy signing an AGMA contract, you are stating that you are or will become amember in good standing of AGMA. Your ability to work is contingent uponpayment of the following fees:1. Basic Dues – a fee of $78, billed once a year. The AGMA office mustreceive the first $78 payment within one week of the start of the rehearsalperiod. Subsequent payments are due by January 01 of each year.Invoices are sent out to all AGMA members - however, it is the member’sresponsibility to make sure that their account is current, whether or notthey receive an invoice. Basic Dues are a continuing membershipobligation unless a member requests Honorable Withdrawal status.Members whose accounts are over three months in arrears will lose theirMember in Good Standing status, be Suspended and be ineligible to workfor an AGMA company.2. Initiation Fee – all AGMA members are required to pay a one-timeInitiation Fee of $500. This amount is due by the time an artist’s incomefrom AGMA venues has reached $2000, or within three years of the firstcontract date – whichever comes first. Artists who fail to pay the initiationfee will lose their Member in Good Standing status and be ineligible towork for AGMA signatories.3. Working Dues – all AGMA members are required to pay working dues inthe amount of 2% of their gross AGMA income. This 2% fee is onlyapplicable to the first $100,000 of AGMA income in any given year; anyincome over $100,000 is not subject to the working dues fee. Workingdues are normally deducted directly from the Artist’s check; severalAGMA signatories require the artist to fill out a Deduction Authorizationbefore they will deduct Working dues. It is the AGMA member’sresponsibility to verify, upon arrival at an AGMA venue, that the companyhas the authorization necessary to deduct the 2% Working Dues.Artists who do not wish the company to deduct Working Dues directlyfrom their checks must pay AGMA directly, by credit card or moneyorder, within one week of the performance in question. If payment is notreceived by the National Office the company will be notified that theArtist is not in Good Standing, and therefore cannot complete theirengagement. Artists will not be invoiced by AGMA until these amountsare Past Due.If you have any questions about AGMA, please call the National Office at212/265-3687 and ask for the Membership Department or email us atMembership@Musicalartists.org.

THE AGMA LOGOAGMA’s logo is an original drawing by renowned American artistHoward Chandler Christy, created in 1936 and given to AGMA inrecognition of its devotion to the interests of American artists.The original hangs in AGMA’s national office at 1430 Broadway, inthe city and state of NEW YORK.