Remember that we are conducting a membership drive that runs through June! Initiation fees are waived, saving new members $115. So far we’ve had six musicians join, as well as a few former members reinstate their membership. Please tell your colleagues that the only way we can make a living in music is by standing together and demanding fair wages and working conditions.
We are preparing for several upcoming events. President Hawley and Secretary-Treasurer Apana will be attending the AFM Southern Conference of Locals meeting in June, and Hawley will also be attending the AFM Convention. Palm Beach Opera member Katherine Rodriguez with be attending the annual meeting of the Regional Orchestra Players Association in July. All of these events are ways for us to network with colleagues in other parts of the country and to learn from each other.
Palm Beach Opera negotiations will begin soon and the committee representing the musicians been having discussions regarding changes to the contract. The Opera has also chosen to give a probationary contract to a musician who was granted emergency medial leave, so a grievance was filed to dispute that status change. There are several outstanding issues at the Opera, so we expect these negotiations will take some time.