List of AFM & Labor-related publications & quotations
by John E. Grimes

The International Musician
Monthly publication of the American Federation of Musicians
Making Strides- 'Arts Advocacy Day Sends Message to Capitol Hill'
-International Musician- June 2006, p. 6.
FMC Summit Looks at Digital Future
- International Musician - Nov. 2006 (pictured with AFM attendees & friends), p. 8.
The Interlude
Bi-Monthly publication of the Boston Musicians Association, 2002-2007
Post Convention Thoughts
- Interlude - July-August 2007
Letter from the Vice President- Nov-Dec 2006
Electronic Media Projects - Part II
'Symphonic vs. Non-Symphonic'
Letter from the Vice President - Sept-Oct 2006
Electronic Media Projects - Part I
Letter from the Vice President- May-June 2006
Why Our Employer Pension Plan is still the AFM's single best member benefit and why we should fight to keep and strengthen it- Conclusion
Letter from the Vice President- May-June 2006
Why Our Employer Pension Plan is still the AFM's Single Best member benefit and why we should fight to keep and strengthen it- Part III
"Established on Oct 2, 1959, the AFM-EPF holds and manages our money in what is typically known as a "multi-employer" pension plan. When the holdings of this plan maybe be protected in part by the Pension Benefit Guaranty Trust, these plans are not safe from so-called creative tweaking or tampering by Congress. Each of us must remain knowledgeable and vigilant about our plan's potential vulnerabilities and what we can do to protect the money so we see it someday."
Letter from the Vice President- March-April 2006
The AFM-EPF- Part II- (A primer on calculating your retirement benefits-several hypothetical scenarios)
Letter from the Vice President- Jan-Feb 2006
RETIREMENT CONCERNS- Part I
Letter from the Vice President- Sept-Oct 2005
96th AFM Convention; Ropa Conference; Icsom Conference
Letter from the Vice President - July-August, 2005
Why Keeping Track of Archival Recording is important, Part II
Letter from the Vice President- May-June 2005
Why Keeping Track of Archival Recording is Important- Part I-
Letter from the Vice President- March-April 2005
Not Whither Social Security, but your withering Social Security
Why Union Members Have to Vote - Sept-Oct 2004
"-Our Best Tool-the Power of the Vote- Labor's necessary response to this Administration's cowboy foreign policy and substandard social agenda seems a no-brainer to me. We desperately need to return to a more highly pro-social mindset in our country. We cannot do it without a united labor movement. While the RNC attempted to divide the middle class, they have not succeeded. We must continue to build a committed bloc vote against them."
Letter from the Vice President- July-Aug 2004
-Analysis of the Housing/Facilities Development Survey-
"If Local 9-535 is to survive and grow, we need to bear in mind the need for a facility which provides more, if not all of the following: a sound and film archives library, adequate rehearsal facilities/practice rooms for members no longer affiliated with schools, a generously sized member meeting chamber, as well as a social gathering place to once again help bring our members together as colleagues and friends in a way no longer being done."
Letter from the Vice President- May-June 2004
Initial reactions to Housing/Facilities Development Survey;
Report on 2nd Future of Music Coalition Summit attended by VP Grimes.
Letter from the Vice President - March-Apr 2004
"This is where our true struggle lies. Live music is live music and it translates into more work opportunities for our Local musicians. Any threat that sabotages our careers as musicians must be viewed as live music's enemy. Should Clear Channel choose to support live music in their Boston theaters as played by live Union Musicians and strive to keep the VPO out of their venues, then Clear Channel could be our friend."
Everett Beale: Exemplary Musician, Colleague and Friend - March-Apr 2004
Letter from the Vice President- Jan-Feb 2004
The Wang, Rockettes, Nutcracker and Boston Ballet
"It seems clear that once the Wang bids goodbye to the "Nutcracker" and ushers in an era of Rockettes to the beat of 'canned music', this community can forget about the Wang ever continuing as a true 'non-profit' entity." " Every step taken by local Producers to dilute our local product and import productions using recorded music is one more step into the grave of obsolescence for tomorrow's professional musicians."
Some Thoughts on Vertical Integration of Radio Ownership with other Media & Low Power Radio- Nov-Dec 2003
A Collectively Bargained Agreement vs. A Collective Bargaining Agreement-Sept-October 2003
"When is the right time to organize for a Collective Bargaining Agreement? In the final Analysis, organizing your own committees and identifying your own personnel rosters is the preferred course of action. Collective Bargaining in its purest sense is just that…you Work together to hammer out your own agreements."
Boston's Classical Music Scene-A Walk Down Memory Lane - Part II - July-Aug 2003
"The generation of musicians now retiring from our scene began planting important seeds in our community. Many of us have reaped in the harvest of their various small victories for well over 20 years (higher wages, better workplace environments, AFM-EPF pension contributions, a handful of CBAs). However, it goes without saying much remains on our plates. The time is ripe for additional inroads on the home front. Can you identify some of these workplaces? Do you have the courage to act?"
Boston's Classical Music Scene- 30 Years Ago, Today & Tomorrow, Part I - March-April 2003
The Future of Music Coalition- Jan-Feb 2003
"The FMC is a grass-roots entity established three years ago in an effort to come to grips with the seemingly unfathomable changes in the electronic media industry. The FMC (Summit) was a non-stop three day-forum bringing together representatives from the major Labels, ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, intellectual property and entertainment lawyers, members of Congress, technology wizards, digital web site savants, independent song-writers, jazz musicians and a host of activists genuinely worried about the future of music in America. I was among a handful of classical musicians at the conference, which led me to realize that many of our colleagues have yet to see how they are being affected by this national crisis."
Internet Piracy and the Future of Special Payments Funds and MPTF- Interlude-Nov-Dec 2002
"The Recording Industry Music Performance Trust Fund faces a dire crisis already made clear to its trustees. For every CD sold, in addition to what gets allocated to our personal Special Payments Funds , a few pennies per CD also go to the Music Performance Trust Funds account. At present, RIMPTF has taken a 10% hit in revenue during the past year as a direct result of internet piracy."
Housing for Musicians- Part II- September-October 2002
"Despite our living in the "Athens of America', one has reason to fear that Boston's next generation of free-lance musicians face a dire crisis in being able to afford housing".
Housing for Musicians- Dare we Think the Impossible - July-Aug 2002
"If we don't try and help the younger generation to put down roots, Boston stands to suffer a drain of performers from the area. Our reputation in the arts and our quality of life as musicians depends on our level of performance. Critical to sustaining consistently high levels of execution are good salaries, stable housing and a healthy working environment".
The Cigar Workers of Ybor City: "A Lesson in Collective Action"- Vice Pres. May-June 2002
"We know that what we produce is of better quality and more interesting sounding than a synthesizer. Our tragedy is that we have failed thus far to educate our public that what we do is superior in every way. We have to begin doing so. We have no choice. Boston musicians have the power to turn the tide against this industry, but it is a massive undertaking. We have access to the media, to our politicians, to our schools and to our public. If we don't use the tools available and fail to make our views known and credible-to draw our own aesthetic lines in the sand-then failure is entirely a product of our own making."
www.BostonMusicians.org Website Postings by Vice President Grimes:
The Future of Music Coalition Report- 'On the Cutting Edge of Electronic Media Developments'- 10/11/07;
2007 Regional Orchestra Performers Association (ROPA) Report- 10/04/07;
Edith Ho- An Appreciation- 06/07;
Electronic Media Projects- Part III- 5/31/07
 
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