President's Report
… Pamphlet B negotiations continue … Progress continues
to be made, however slowly. We are scheduled to meet twice during April in hopes
of completing this negotiation. There are extensive issues to be resolved being
as there are so many different Locals with CBA’s and so much differing language
to be resolved. There appears to be a "moderate" faction amongst the Theatre
League that is as anxious as we are to reach an agreement. Then there is the
"other" faction that seems hell-bent on being as disruptive as possible. Our
hopes are that the "moderates" appear to be getting as tired of the "disruptives"
as we are!
…
PTG / SFX / Clear Channel Lawsuit … During the theater
strike which began in the fall of 2000 against PTG (SFX / Clear Channel), they
filed a lawsuit against Local 655 and the Federation. They had filed similar
charges with the NLRB which were subsequently dismissed. This lawsuit was
"tabled" by mutual agreement when we signed the agreement to go back to work.
The lawsuit was to be dismissed upon satisfactory resolution of the Pamphlet B
negotiations. Now, they have decided not to wait for the negotiations to end and
we are forced to begin the discovery phase at this time. We feel the charges are
bogus and that we will prevail, although just having to defend the lawsuit is
time consuming and a financial burden, which is probably what the other side
wants. That, in addition to bringing more pressure to bear on the Pamphlet B
negotiations to get what they want. We will need everyone’s help in defending
this lawsuit, whether it is demonstrating our unity or actual financial
assistance. This is a critical fight for the AFM and Local 655.
…Music Man
Boycott… As of this writing, this non-union touring show is scheduled to
appear at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts starting on Tuesday, April 2
nd.
We are awaiting word from Actor’s Equity regarding the possible "leafleting" of
this show. Just last week, Ed Ward, President of Local 10-208 in Chicago got
1,200 people to demonstrate in front of the Chicago Theatre, quite effective!
…Palm Beach Opera… We are very close to finalizing a number issues in a
sideletter to the contract. In addition, we are close to resolving the pension
contribution problem that arose during the initial season. It appears that the
payroll service that was discontinued made all of the errors and that task is
now being handled quite well within the PBO offices.
…Florida Philharmonic
Orchestra… As I am writing this article, it appears that the only grievance
filed in the FPO recently has been resolved prior to arbitration. I am gratified
to see the management and orchestra committee working to resolve their
outstanding issues.
… Miami Chamber Symphony … We are very close to
finishing the re-structuring of the CBA. We will keep you posted in our next
article.
…Guy Scafati, Palm Beach Rep… Our thanks to Guy Scafati, a
previous Executive Board member for accepting the volunteer position of Palm
Beach Business Rep / MPTF Liaison.
… I’ll stay in touch; you do the same …
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