CLUB DATES

The Long Island office recently settled grievances against two different employers for not paying musicians.

In the first case, an employer who does a small amount of work in the Jewish single engagement field failed to pay a musician $350 for a five-hour gig. After the musician tried for months to get paid without any luck, he contacted Senior Business Rep Peter Voccola for help.

Voccola made preparations to file a complaint with the Labor Department under the Unpaid Wages Prohibition Act. The department assigned an investigator. But when the employer learned of the impending action, he paid up.

In the second grievance, a musician working for one of the larger club date offices was underpaid a total of $390 for four gigs. The musician contacted the employer a number of times. After his third call, he realized he was not going to be paid without help from the union. Voccola contacted the employer and the employer sent out a check for the $390 the next week.