Double Times

Beware the Nonunion Contractor

We were contacted by some musicians recently because they hadn’t been paid for a Miami Bach Society gig they played in April. And when they finally got paid, some six months after the gig, it was for a lot less than they were expecting.

It bears repeating again...when working for nonunion contractors, always ask in advance, “What does it pay?” And if possible, get it in writing. We’re here to help, so call us if you need backup.

And it never hurts to ask for what you’re worth. Three situations this month serve to illustrate.

A high-profile member took a nonunion gig assuming the pay was higher than scale and, after canceling other work in December, committed to the job.  Soon he found himself "removed" from the work because they no longer needed his services.  Now, the member is out of work, losing thousands of dollars, and he has no time to find work to replace the lost wages.

Another member was recently engaged to play a nonunion gig. When he found out there was doubling, he asked for a doubling fee, and the answer was “no.” He talked to a couple of other members in the orchestra to get support, and hinted that maybe he’d rather turn down the gig than play without getting doubling, and the next thing you know he gets a call saying there was some confusion and of course he’d get doubling.

Lastly, a union contractor also called us because he booked a church gig and later found out that they planned on streaming the church service over the Internet. We were able to work out a reasonable fee for the streaming, which the church agreed to pay. The church got a great bunch of musicians who played really well because they knew they were being treated fairly

It never hurts to ask!

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