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 2nd. 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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