Bylaw Committee Meeting, October 28, 2002

The Bylaw Committee met on Monday, October 28, 2002, 12:00 noon, at the Hollywood Playhouse, 2640 Washington St., Hollywood.  Present: Chairman Jeff Apana, Kurt Hagen, Katrenna Johnson, and Scott Whitney. 

The minutes of the October 14th meeting were approved as distributed by email.

An informal meeting of the general membership was also held at noon at the Hollywood Playhouse. The Bylaw Committee attended the membership meeting to present the proposed bylaw revision and to hear member’s opinions of the changes.  Chairman Apana presented copies of the proposed bylaw revision to about a dozen members.  He discussed the work of the Bylaw Committee and reviewed the major changes.  Members expressed opinions about the following:

  1. Proposed Article II, Section 1., (a), refers to uniting “musicians,” but proposed Article III, Section 1., refers to “professional musicians” being eligible for membership; the two should be consistent.
  2. Proposed Article II, Section 2. Jurisdiction, “Dade” should be “Miami-Dade,” and the list of counties should be in order of population size, or in order of geographical location, or in alphabetical order.
  3. Whether to add the duty of Theatrical Representative to the duties of the President (proposed Article VII, Section 2., (a), 6.)
  4. That specifying 8% pension fund contributions for employees of the local represents a reduction in benefits to officers;  discussion of raising the amount to 10%.
  5. Several members thought the number of words candidates for office are allowed in the newsletter should not be reduced from 200 to 100 (proposed Article IX, Section 4. (c)).
  6. Concern that changing to voting by mail may have the consequence of giving control of the union to a relatively small number of inactive players, and that active players would not be fairly represented.
  7. Discussion of whether the President should have authority to call committee meetings.
  8. Number of days cancellation for jobs (proposed, Article XIII, Section 5.); suggested 15 days cancellation, then if cancelled within 14-11 days, musicians would receive 33% of wages; if cancelled within 10-5 days, musicians would receive 67% of wages; and if cancelled in less than 5 days, musicians would receive 100% of wages.
  9. Discussion of leaving in the prohibition against requiring members to buy uniforms (current Article VI, Section 13.)
  10. Discussion of proposed Article XIV, Section 3. Non-Bargaining Substitutes. Concern was expressed about the enforceability of this section.  Also, since it also appears in the wage scale list, whether it should be taken out of this section of the bylaws.

The membership meeting ended about 1:45 p.m.

After the membership meeting, the Bylaw Committee continued to meet and consider the suggestions just given by members.

#1

Although some members suggested inserting “professional” before “musicians” in proposed Article II, Section 1, (a), it was noted that the Articles of Incorporation extend eligibility to professional musicians, or anyone “who cultivates the art as an amateur.” Also, it was noted after the meeting that there was an error in the printed version of the revised bylaws shown to members. Proposed Article III, Section 1. should read: “All performers on musical instruments of any kind and vocalists, or other individuals who render musical services of any kind are eligible for membership, subject to the laws and jurisdiction of the Federation,” which makes the two proposed bylaw articles consistent.

#2

It was decided to change “Dade” to “Miami-Dade,” and to list the counties alphabetically by unanimous consent.

#3

It was decided the duty of “Business Representative” encompasses symphonic as well as theatrical representative.  A motion by Scott Whitney to amend proposed Article VII, Section 2., (a), 6., by striking, “and” and inserting “including” was adopted by unanimous consent.

#4

Raising pension fund contributions to 10% for employees and officers of the local, higher than the contributions received by most members, was not supported by the Bylaw Committee.  It was noted that the President has not received a salary increase in over five years, and that the recent drop in pension fund contributions from 10% to 8% represents a loss of $700 in contributions per year for the President.  As an alternative to raising the pension fund contribution for everyone, Kurt Hagen moved to recommend increasing the president’s yearly salary by $700 (proposed Article VII, Section 3., (a), 1.). After discussion, the motion was adopted by unanimous consent.

#5

After discussion, it was decided to leave the recommendation at 100 words (proposed Article IX, Section 4. (c)).

#6

After discussion, it was decided that the benefits of voting by mail far outweigh the possible negative consequences (proposed Article IX).  The Bylaw Committee concluded that voting by mail will increase voter participation in Local elections which will reduce the influence of any one small group of members, and will more fairly represent the will of the entire membership.

#7

After discussion, it was decided it is unnecessary for the President to have the authority to call committee meetings.

#8

No discussion.

#9

After discussion, it was decided to restore the current prohibition against requiring members to purchase uniforms by adding to proposed Article XIII the following: “Section 7. No member shall be required to buy a uniform or any part thereof, unless engaged for a period of ten (10) or more consecutive weeks, and then the member shall not be required to pay an unreasonable price for such uniform or any part thereof.”

#10

It was decided that even thought this provision is also stated in the wage scale list, that it serves as an important bargaining point and should be left in the bylaws.

Alternate Delegate

Chairman Apana reported that according to the International Representative, the alternate delegate can not be specified as the director receiving the most votes (proposed Article VIII, Section 1., (d)).  Rather, federal law requires it to be a position for which a specific candidate is chosen. 

  • discussion of adding the selection of “Alternate Delegate” to the election ballot;
  • discussion of whether the alternate delegate should also necessarily be a director;
  • discussion of changing one of the current salaried positions into an elected position with the duty of alternate delegate. 

Chairman Apana reported that the Local has not sent more than two delegates to AFM conferences and conventions in recent years.  It was decided to delete the position of alternate delegate from the proposed bylaw revision (strike proposed Article VIII, Section 1., (d)).

Chairman Apana reported he will present a report of the Bylaw Committee at the November 12th meeting of the Executive Board.

The meeting adjourned at  3:15 p.m.