Spring is in full swing and the regular concert season is winding down. But no rest for the weary at 802!

After my May report in Allegro went live, I received communications from members who are concerned about what’s happening with the situation at the New York Philharmonic. Currently, the Philharmonic is conducting several investigations. It is the Philharmonic, not the union, that will decide how to proceed. Once they do, the union will act in the best interests of all its members. As we await the results of the Philharmonic’s investigations, and in light of pending litigation against the union, I am unable to comment further at this time.

With the increase in workplace related complaints — whether concerning misconduct, bullying, physical safety, harassment, or other issues — we began assessing our own internal processes for addressing these, which will take some time. We had a third party hotline for several years that was discontinued during the pandemic due to limited use by members. As we look to facilitate more regular conversations between the union and our members, we found what we believe is a more modern tool called #NotMe which will be made available to you in the coming weeks. The #NotMe app can be used to report anything. Did a prop fall into the pit? Did your stand partner say something inappropriate? Did your show start 10 minutes late for no stated reason? All of these things could be reported via the app (or in the online version if you really don’t like using apps on your phone). It is also a general communication app that will allow 802 to push time sensitive info to members, post relevant policies and docs, and hear feedback from members. All users have the choice of reporting things anonymously or with their names attached. More on this as we launch.

The day-to-day work of the union continues. We are preparing for negotiations for the Broadway CBA. We hope to be at the table this month, although dates are not yet set. We are also preparing for New York City Opera negotiations, which will begin in July. Our negotiations for the new bargaining unit at the Met — the title callers — have stalled and we have officially demanded recognition for the unit. If the Met officially denies us, the next step will be to go before the NLRB. After negotiations with the New York Philharmonic broke down last month, we are hoping to get back to the table in September. We are waiting on a successful conclusion to a media agreement between the Perelman Arts Center and the AFM and then we should be close to done there. We recently finished designing and advising the New York City Ballet Orchestra on a new health plan just for the orchestra. That will be up and running as of today.

We are also taking part in caucuses in preparation for the renegotiation of the AFM Live TV and Videotape agreement. This is the CBA that governs all the late night bands (Colbert, SNL, etc) as well as the one-off live shows (Tony Awards, etc). The agreement expires in October and Local 802 will be front and center in those negotiations. On a side note, we are losing one live band: “Late Night with Seth Myers” has just announced that there will be no live music on the show going forward.

The building project is moving forward quickly and we still have a start date for construction of July 1. Local 802 is actively seeking other space to move to for six months. If this happens, we’ll certainly let all members know! In the meantime, we are still taking reservations for the Club Room and Room B, but we are informing people that rental dates are contingent on when the first floor will be renovated. We will try to inform people in as timely a fashion as possible if we need to cancel their reservations.

We have some looming staff changes. We are all sad to say goodbye to our Off Broadway business rep Logan Dolamore. We have come to rely heavily on his great skills in negotiating contracts, addressing members’ concerns and communicating with both employers and members. We are considering his replacement(s) and will keep you posted as we decide. We are also close to naming a successor to Music Prep Supervisor Steve Danenberg. We have a few months before Steve retires but we are deep in interviews and offers. We are also hiring a consultant/intern for the summer to write and direct a music prep video project for posting on our website and YouTube channel. It will serve as a resource to all music prep folks and will provide info and demos on how to file invoices for all the different music prep areas.

Our June membership meeting approaches in a few days and we hope to see lots of you there. We are still finalizing plans for the agenda and will announce it when ready.  Come in person or by Zoom on June 5 at 5pm.

Finally, were so honored that Local 802 member Daryl Goldberg won the 2024 Philoine Fried prize from the New York Labor History Association. Read more from Karen Fisher here.