Back to Pit Bulletin Index
11TH ANNUAL TMA CONFERENCE MINUTES
RADISSON HOTEL, CAMBRIDGE, MASS
August 14, 2006
10:00 A.M. (EDT)
Present -The 11th annual TMA conference took place at the Radisson Hotel in
Cambridge Mass, and was hosted by the newly formed Boston chapter of the TMA and
Boston Musicians Association Local 9-535. Present were AFM President Tom Lee;
counsel for AFM George Cohen; IEB Board members David Lennon and Joe Parente;
AFM Director of touring Patrick Glynn; AFM Director of the Freelance Musicians
Assn., Paul Sharpe; President Barbara Owens from Local 9-535, Boston; President
Lovie Smith-Schenk from Local 65-699, Houston; Local 10-208 Chicago, President
Gary Matts; President Vicky Smolik, Local 2-197, St Louis and TMA National
President; TMA National Vice –President George Troia from Local 5, Detroit; TMA
directors, Keith Claeys, Local 5, Detroit, Bob Sanders, Local 47, Southern
California; Rich Genovese, Local 77, Philadelphia; Tom Mendel (for Carey Deadman),
Local 10-208 Chicago; Aileen Friedel, Local2-197, St. Louis; Tony D’Amico, Local
9-535 Boston. Members in attendance, from Boston were Fred Aldrich, Bob Couture,
John Grimes, Mark Pinto, Sid Dirbard, Rick Hammet, Walt Bosian, Paul Perfetti
and Matt Plummer; from Local 400, HartFord, Conn., Joe Messina; from Local 6 San
Francisco, Ron Sfarzo; from Local 802 NY, Tino Gagliardi.
President Smolik welcomes delegates and visitors to conference.
Barbara Owens, Local 9-235 President, welcomes delegates and visitors to Boston
area, and introduces Mark Pinto - Secretary/ Treasurer; and John Grimes - Vice
President of the Local, and Tony D’Amico - President; of the newly-formed Boston
Chapter of the TMA.
Patrick Glynn, new AFM Director of Touring is introduced. It is his first day on
the job. He will address Pamphlet B concerns, and wants to organize all the
shows on the road.
AFM President Tom Lee addresses the conference. He offers a brief recap of the
2001 negotiations which brought in Local officers from 24 cities. He thanks Pat
Glynn for accepting his new administrative role, and introduces George Cohen,
AFM Legal counsel.
Mr. Cohen addressed member concerns about the Pamphlet B progress, the benefit
of having the Locals at the table, and the Theater Leagues decision to reach an
agreement with the Union in spite of Larry Levians approach. He also spoke of
the Traveler’s “Shop Steward” meeting in Chicago which involved “Rule 24” city
Local Officers, and the concerns that were voiced there. He pointed out that the
new AFM Agreement has higher tier settings than Equity.
TMA President Smolik comments on the “Alternative Touring Agreement,” the
disparity in pay, the lack of language concerning the “virtual orchestra
machine’, the problem of Local jurisdiction of the show boundaries (Local, city,
county etc.), and the dispersion of show information in a timely manner.
AFM President Lee responded that Pamphlet B is a difficult Agreement, that there
are legitimate claims on both sides which the negotiating committee must deal
with and noted that there are only two representatives for the traveling
musicians, while seven Local officers take part. He gave some further history
and some examples of Pamphlet B (specifically Rule 24) applications.
Director Robert Sanders (SoCal) raises the point that he hopes the tier system
will not affect Local agreements.
Lunch break.
Afternoon Session:
President Smolik presents an article from the LA Times (July 22, 2006) titled
“Upending the House of Labor,” regarding the “Kentucky River” case affecting the
classification of “supervisors” and “Independent Contractors,” and their status
under Labor law.
She reads a brief Secretary/Treasurer report that TMA has 353 members in good
standing as of June 6, and has $15,818.50 in the treasury.
Chapter Reports:
Chicago; Tom Mendal – several long running shows including Wicked and Spelling
Bee. The Broadway Theater is continuing to offer limited runs of touring shows.
Several dinner theaters are also presenting shows. Carey Deadman will not seek
another term as Director.
Dallas /Ft/ Worth; no report
Detroit; Keith Claeys reports on 21 weeks of touring productions
this past season. The upcoming season looks slower. Detroit TMA currently has
approx. 50 members.
N. Cal.; Member Ron Sfarzo gave a short report
S. Cal; Bob Sanders reported that his Member Stephen Green is
designing a website for their chapter. LA Music and Art center has a new
agreement, and there is one for the Pasadena Playhouse. The Freud, Kodak and
Greek Theaters are waiting with their agreements until the Pantages works out
its deal.
St. Louis; Aileen Friedel reports they have 23 members; in the
last year, there were 8 weeks at the Fox and 7 at the MUNY Opera. She also
reports that there are problems augmenting orchestrations at the Muni.
Boston; Tony D’Amico reports from the newest Chapter; they have
20 members. He reports that they had Wicked for eight weeks, Spamalot for 5;
Menopause, the Musical has run for two and a half years. Major venues include
the Colonial and the Opera House for long running shows, and the Wang and
Shubert for one week shows. All agreements expire at the end of 2007.
Director at Large; Rich Genovese Reports from Philadelphia; the Merriam Theater had Hairspray, All Shook Up, The Producers,
Chicago, Light in the Piazza, and Camelot. The Academy of Music
is currently running The Lion King for 12wks and Wicked for 3; up – coming are
Scissorhands and Pippin. Les Miz. played the Shubert Forrest Theater along with
Phantom late in the year.
Director at Large; Rich Tremarello- regrets he cannot attend but
sends a report. Pres. Smolik reads: Milwaukee Marcus Center has a new first time
CBA. He reports that work is slow and that he has taken sub work on the road. He
has concerns over the VO and the “Most” system. He would like to run again as a
Director at Large.
Report from David Lennon Pres. 802 and Tino Gagliardi, cochair
of the Broadway Theater committee. The Broadway contract expires March 2007.
Both express concerns over the use of electronic devices, problems with the
abuse of special situations, and the status of Broadway.
George Troia expressed concerns to Tino Gagliardi of the
shrinking orchestrations used on the road.
Pres. Smolik gave a report on the PCC/LCC held in Las Vegas this past June. She
reported that: ROPA now has 72 participating orchestras. OCSOM: reported the
Montreal Symphony Strike settled. Quebec City Orchestra having some problems.
ICSOM: reported on the Bankruptcy of orchestras. TMA: reported on Pamphlet B and
The Boston conference. RMA: reported on public relations and that they have 120
members in the Nashville chapter. There are relocations to Las Vegas.
AFM President Tom Lee gave a general report. Regionalization seemed like a good
idea back in 1992 but still has not occurred. We need to grow our membership; do
we as individuals do enough to recruit? We need a mass education program and a
public relations campaign. He attended a reception given by Senator Ted Kennedy
and lobbied for a waiver of the $1000 fee for Canadian Immigration. On video
games, the AFM has control of 2% of the market; we should shoot for more like
20%. We need to work to stop motion picture work from leaving the country and
federation control. New Pension Board Trustees Lovie Smith-Schenk and Gary Matts
report the pension fund has $1.919 Billion in it. The multiplier before 2004 was
4.35 per hundred, it currently pays 3.50 per hundred.
Lovie Smith–Schenk gave a Diversity Committee report. She said the committee was
formed in 1997 and became a standing committee in 2003. The committee will
present three Diversity awards at the next AFM convention, They are looking for
candidates for these awards. Four regional conferences have diversity
Committees.
Paul Sharpe, Director of freelance services for the past 18 months says we
should want all freelancers in the Federation as a way to increase membership
and work dues revenue. He defines a free lancer as anyone doing non-CBA work.
August 15, 2006
9:00 A.M. (EDT)
Attorney Gabe Dumont gave a presentation describing the recent contract
negotiations in the Boston Theater Market. He has been a labor Lawyer for 30
years; he is also general counsel for the Boston teamsters. In 2004 he
represented the Boston Musicians’ Assn. in negotiations with the Colonial, Wang
and Shubert Theaters, as well as with the Opera House. At that time, Clear
Channel (now Live Nation) did not want minimums at the Wang or at the soon to be
reopened Opera House which was undergoing a $40 million dollar renovation. The
Opera House would host The Lion king during the 2004 Democratic convention.
Dumont felt the musicians were being taken advantage of, and if a strike did
occur he hoped the stagehands and dressers would also support a strike. What
they ended up with was minimums at the Colonial of 12 live musicians if a VO is
used; on non-Pamphlet B shows at the Opera House, 50% of the orchestra must be
local. Wang theater had hosted Rockettes three times in five years. Before that
they had done the Nutcracker using live musicians. They traded off the Rockettes
for White Christmas, which used a large local orchestra. The current contract is
good until 2007. He believes the VO should be dealt with at the local level but
recommends that a strategy be developed nationally to counter a show like the
Rockettes. He also believes the Boston area theaters in North Shore, Manchester,
and Providence should be brought under a similar umbrella agreement.
TMA elections
The following officers were elected by Acclamation: President, Vicky Smolik;
Vice- President, George Troia; Secretary/ Treasurer, Kaid Friedel; Directors:
Boston, Tony D’Amico; Chicago, Tom Mendal; Dallas/Ft. Worth, Vacant; Detroit,
Keith Claeys; No Cal, Artie Storch; So Cal, Bob Sanders; St. Louis, Aileen
Friedel.
There was a secret ballot for the two positions of Director at Large: Rich
Genovese won the first spot with 16 votes, Rich Tremarello won the second with
11 votes, and Lisha McDuff received 6 votes.
Directors for Broadway and Travelers will remain vacant because of no
nominations.
George Troia will be the AFM convention delegate, the First Alternate will be
Bob Sanders, and the Second Alternate will be Rich Genovese.
There was brief eulogy by Pres. Lee for fallen Brother Richard Totusek followed
by a moment of silence.
Member at Large Larry Gardner gave a brief ROPA report citing a change in
officers, and also reported the primary theater in Sacramento, CA, has a new
contract with pay increases, 11% pension, and new health and safety language.
The conference was adjourned at 11:45 AM.
TMA Executive Board meeting
Monday August 14, 2006
Call to order 5:30 PM (EDT)
Present: Pres. Smolik, Vice- Pres. Troia, Board members Aileen Friedel, Bob
sanders, Keith Claeys, Rich Genovese. On the phone: Secretary/Treasurer Kaid
Friedel, Rich Tremarello, Carey Deadman. Not present: Artie Storch, Lisha McDuff
and James Sims.
Reading of the last Board meeting minutes by Kaid Friedel.
Minutes accepted on motion by Genovese, seconded by Sanders – motion CU
On retaining David Rosenfeld as TMA counsel for $300 annual fee; motion by
Sanders, seconded by A. Friedel - motion CU
On keeping officers annual Honorarium at $1000 for Pres. V.Pres and Sect.
/Treas. motion made by Genovese, seconded by Claeys - motion CU
On keeping a minimum of ten members for chapter formation; motion by A. Friedel,
seconded by Sanders - motion CU
Kaid Friedel Secretary/Treasurers report as of July 1, 2006, we have 353
members, and we have $15,818.50 in the treasury. There was discussion of having
one date for annual dues instead of the two that we now have; decided maybe next
year, but not now. Income $7,363.88, outgo $7,147.81 for the period of July 1,
2005 through June 30, 2006.
Dallas/Ft. worth chapter only has two paid up members; they will get a month
warning before action is taken.
New budget proposed - $7,150; motion by Sanders, seconded by Claeys; motion CU
2007 conference location proposed city Chicago - (confirmed the next day).
Meeting was adjourned at 6:42 P.M (EDT)
Minutes recorded by V/P George Troia in the absence of S/T Kaid Friedel