Art Chowder January | February 2018, Issue 13 | Page 43

FAIR PLAY FAIR PAY
By Ginny Brennan
What services or programs do you offer your members?
Member benefits include instrument insurance, free teacher listings, grant and
financial aid, reduced cost insurance including dental, accidental insurance, and
more. Also included are fillable contracts and contract enforcement. A union
member is a union member wherever they go. If the member requires anything
they can call our Local or the Local where they are visiting, both nationally and
internationally. Local 105 Members can seek employment just about anywhere as a
union member.
Fair Trade Music originated as an AFM Program in Portland, where Local 99 union
musicians and organizers started Fair Trade Music. Other cities include Washington, D.C.
and Seattle. Seattle looks to be leading the way when earlier this year 25 businesses
signed a pledge to abide by the Fair Trade Music Principles. Seattle also proclaimed May
20th as “Fair Trade Music Day.” Is Local 105 also actively involved with this grassroots
campaign?
Local 105 will begin a Fair Trade Music Spokane Campaign in 2018. This
movement is not so much about how much you are getting paid, but the fact that
when clubs say they are going to pay you, they follow through with what was agreed
upon. This campaign is more of a collaborative type of relationship, because clubs
will need to sign on to being fair trade clubs and be willing to show how monies are
made and establish appropriate compensation. Seattle’s program came up with a
creative way to ensure safe and clean areas when musicians are at the club, as well as
having reliable sound system quality.
In addition to better pay, Fair Trade Music in Seattle focuses on unloading equipment
and parking issues. Seattle has started placing Musician Loading signs around the
city to accommodate musicians. Spokane’s Fair Trade Music will start by bringing
together a group of diverse musicians, union and non-union members alike. We will
ask them, “What do you need? What are you experiencing when you go out and
work in our community? What things are happing that are working well/poorly?
How can we work together to improve the overall experience for everyone?” Fair
Trade Music allows musicians and clubs to work together to create a vibrant music
scene.
Excerpt from AFM 105 Newsletter
“Music in Seattle is responsible for more than $4.3 billion in
total economic output and supports an astonishing 30,660 jobs.
If the Seattle music industry were a city, it would have a GDP
larger than the Mt. Vernon/Anacortes metropolitan area.”
Though our region is smaller than Seattle, we believe the structure of the music
scene is the same. Think about all the restaurants, hotels, theaters, bars, and other
businesses that are fed by the constant stream of money our gigs supply. Are we ben-
efiting on a commensurate level with those dependent businesses? If we value what
we do, we must work together to establish the bottom line, the line beyond which the
pay is too low and the conditions too restrictive. Otherwise we may find ourselves
powerless to advocate for our rights.
January | February 2018
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