Bylaw Committee Meeting, October 14, 2002

The Bylaw Committee met on Monday, October 14, 2002, 3:10 p.m., at the office of the Local, 2725 Hollywood Boulevard.  Present: Chairman Jeff Apana, Kurt Hagen, Katrenna Johnson, Tony Toran, and Scott Whitney.

The minutes of the October 10th meeting were approved as distributed by email.

Scott Whitney moved to amend proposed Article VII, Section 3., (c) “Mileage Reimbursement: Directors shall receive $20.00 per meeting attended.” by inserting “regular Executive Board” after “per.”  A motion by Kurt Hagen to amend by striking “regular” was adopted.  The motion to insert “Executive Board” after “per” was then adopted.

Scott Whitney moved to amend proposed Article IX, Section 4., (b), 1. by inserting “additional” after “five (5).”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to amend proposed Article IX, Section 4., (b), 5. “Members may not hold, nor accept nomination for, more than one office at a time.” by striking “hold, nor.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to amend proposed Article II, Section 1. Object, (e) “resolve grievances, disputes and controversies among members and employers;” by striking, “and employers” and inserting, “with employers.”  After discussion, the motion was withdrawn by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to amend Article II, Section 2., by striking, “which is in the jurisdiction of Local 730.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to amend proposed Article V, Section 3., (c), by striking, “Contractors/leaders are also responsible for their own work dues.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to substitute for proposed Article VII, Section 2., (c), 14., the following: “Have authority, with the approval of the Executive Board, to employ personnel to assist in the duties of the Secretary-Treasurer.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to amend proposed Article VII, Section 2., (b) by adding, “be an ex-officio member of the Recording Musicians Committee.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

The duties of the Secretary-Treasurer (Article VII, Section 2., (c), 1. through 14.) were put in an order suggested by Chairman Apana by unanimous consent.

The duties of the Executive Board (Article VII, Section 2., (d), 1. through 13.) were put in an order suggested by Chairman Apana by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to amend proposed Article X, Section 4., by striking, “regular.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Proposed Article XVIII – Amendments

 Katrenna Johnson moved to amend proposed Article XVIII, Section 4., (a), by striking, “the motion to adopt specifies another time for its becoming effective, or the membership has set such a time by a previously adopted motion” and inserting, “provided otherwise”  After discussion, the motion was withdrawn by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to amend proposed Article XVIII, Section 4., (b), by striking, “the following” and adding, “of the following year.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to amend proposed Article XVIII, Section 2., (b), by striking, “45” and inserting, “30.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Discussion of bylaw amendments submitted by the Bylaw Committee, or changes to the wage scale submitted by the Wage Scale Committee.  It was decided that Scott Whitney would rewrite proposed Article XVIII, Section 2., (a), to allow for the Bylaws Committee and the Wage Scale Committee to submit bylaw amendments.

After discussion, it was decided Scott Whitney would rewrite proposed Article XVIII, Section 2., (b), so that proposals to amend the bylaws originating in a committee would not have the requirement of being sent back to the committee after being presented to the Secretary-Treasurer.

Article XVI – Group Life Insurance

The committee considered changes to Article XVI proposed by Chairman Apana, and distributed to committee members earlier by email.

A motion by Chairman Apana to strike Article XVI, Section 1., was adopted by unanimous consent.

A motion by Chairman Apana to amend Article XVI, Section 2., (a), by striking, “as of May 1, 1997,” was adopted by unanimous consent.

A motion by Chairman Apana to strike Article XVI, Section 2., (b) and (c) was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to substitute for Article XVI, Section 2., (d), the following: “All members are required to pay an annual insurance assessment in the amount of the current annual premium, rounded to the next higher dollar amount.  The annual insurance assessment will be due and payable concurrent with annual dues payments.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

A motion by Chairman Apana to strike Article XVI, Section 2., (e) was adopted by unanimous consent.

At  6:20 p.m. the meeting recessed for 10 minutes by unanimous consent.

Article XV – Wage Scale List

By unanimous consent, Article XV, Section 2., was amended to read as follows: “The wage scale list shall contain the minimum wages, benefits and pension rates for musical services preformed in the jurisdiction of the Local.”

A motion by Chairman Apana to strike Article XV, Section 3., was adopted by unanimous consent.

Article VII – Officers

Chairman Apana moved to amend Article VII, Section 2., (d), 6., by striking, “as provided elsewhere in these Bylaws.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to strike, “The Executive Board shall have authority to hear and decide all charges against members and to impose appropriate fines or other disciplinary action” from Article XII – Charges and Trials, and insert, “hear and decide all charges against members and purchasers and impose appropriate fines or other disciplinary action” into Article VII – Officers, Section 2., (d) (duties of the Executive Board).  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.  Kurt Hagen moved to amend by inserting, “claims or” after “all.”  Scott Whitney moved to amend the amendment by striking, “or” and inserting, “and.”  After discussion, both motions to amend were withdrawn by unanimous consent.  Kurt Hagen moved to substitute for this duty of the Executive Board the following: “serve as a Board of Arbitration to hear and decide all claims against members and purchasers.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Kurt Hagen moved to insert into the duties of the Executive Board (Article VII, Section 2., (d)) the following: “Serve as a trial board to hear and decide all charges against members and impose appropriate fines or other disciplinary action.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to add to the duties of the Executive Board (Article VII, Section 2., (d)) the following: “establish minimum wages and prices for any types of engagement not covered in the wage scale list.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Article XII – Charges and Trials, Article XIII – Claims – Rules of Practice and Procedure

The committee considered a proposal by Chairman Apana that combined Articles XII and XIII into one article titled “Claims, Charges and Trials” (proposed Article XII).

By unanimous consent, proposed Article XII, Section 1., was amended by striking, “charges” and inserting, “claims.”

By unanimous consent, proposed Article XII, Section 2., was amended by inserting, “Claims and” before, “Charges.”

By unanimous consent, proposed Article XII, Section 2., was amended by adding, “and shall contain the following: (a) The nature of the offense; (b) The provisions at issue; (c) The date, time and place of the alleged occurrence; (d) Sufficient facts to provide the charged party information to prepare a defense.”

By unanimous consent, proposed Article XII, Section 3., was amended by substituting the following: “Notices concerning claims and charges shall be sent by the President to the affected parties by certified mail.”

Chairman Apana moved to insert before proposed Article XII, Section 4., the following: “Charged parties shall be given at least 21 days from the mailing of the notice to prepare a defense.  The charged party shall be allowed to present witnesses and may bring a representative to the hearing to speak on the charged party’s behalf.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

By unanimous consent, proposed Article XII, Section 4., was amended to read as follows:  “The Executive Board shall conduct a full and fair hearing and render its decision within 45 days of the filing of the claim or charge.”

By unanimous consent, proposed Article XII, Sections 5, 6 and 7 were struck.

Article XIV – Engagements

Chairman Apana moved to substitute for Article XIV, Section 1., the following: “Federation-approved contracts must be filed prior to the start of all engagements.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

By unanimous consent, the following was substituted for Article XIV, Section 2.: “Engagement reports must include the date, location, hours of the engagement, name of the employer/purchaser, the name of the leader, names and social security numbers of musicians, amounts of scale wages and pension contributions paid.  Engagement reports must be filed within 21 days of an engagement.”

Chairman Apana moved to strike Article XIV, Section 3.  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to strike Article XIV, Section 4.  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to strike Article XIV, Section 5.  The motion was lost.

By unanimous consent, Article XIV, Section 5. was amended to read, “Substitute and extra musicians who work under a collective bargaining agreement shall receive compensation equal to contracted players.” and was moved to Article XV – Wage Scale List.

Chairman Apana moved to substitute for Article XIV, Section 6., the following: “Payment to musicians performing an engagement must be made within 14 days.  Any leader, contractor, or purchaser who fails to pay a musician for an engagement within 14 days of the performance date may be subject to disciplinary action or fines.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to substitute for Article XIV, Section 7., the following: “Musicians hired for an engagement that is subsequently postponed shall have the first right of refusal for the rescheduled date.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

A motion by Chairman Apana to strike Article XIV, Section 8. was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to substitute for Article XIV, Section 9., the following: “Fourteen days notice is required for the cancellation of engagements unless mutual consent is given.”  Kurt Hagen moved to amend by striking, “Fourteen” and inserting, “Seven.”  The motion was adopted.  The substitution was then adopted as amended.

A motion by Chairman Apana to strike Article XIV, Section 10. was adopted by unanimous consent.

Chairman Apana moved to substitute for Article XIV, Section 11. the following:  “Notice must be given to the Local of the cancellation of any engagement for which a contract has been filed.”  The motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

Article X – Meetings

Scott Whitney discussed Article X, Section 5. Order of Business.  By unanimous consent, “(e) Special Business” and, “(f) …General Business” were changed back to, “(e) Special Orders” and, (f) …General Orders.”

Chairman Apana moved that proposed increases in officers’ wages and compensation not take effect until 2004.  The motion was lost with Chairman Apana abstaining from the vote.

Kurt Hagen moved that the Bylaw Committee recommend to the Executive Board that a letter of commendation be sent to Scott Whitney for his contributions to the Bylaw Committee as a registered parliamentarian.  The motion was adopted.

The next meeting of the Bylaw Committee is Monday, October 28th, 12:00 noon, at the Hollywood Playhouse, 2640 Washington St., Hollywood.

The meeting adjourned at  8:30 p.m.