In Monday’s (6/16) Toronto Star, Allan Woods reports that in Quebec, “By the slimmest of margins—53.3 per cent—musicians in the province opted to cut ties with the American Federation of Musicians…. The Quebec musicians’ guild says it pays more to union headquarters in New York and Toronto than it received in services, that there is no recognition of the French-speaking majority in the AFM’s third-largest union local.… The AFM says none of the [grievances] justify the professional isolation Quebec musicians are inviting upon themselves by splitting from the union … [The Quebec group] promised to cut annual union dues by $10, better capitalize on work opportunities in television, video games and film and to provide all legal documents in French…. The Quebec chapter, AFM local 406, is the third-largest branch of the union with more than 3,000 members. Each year, the Quebec guild says it contributes more than $300,000 worth of union dues to headquarters in New York. … According to a May 21 lawyer’s letter sent to the Quebec guild last month … the guild would be obliged to cede all records, databases, files, properties, equipment and bank accounts to the AFM. It would be required to pay back an outstanding $15,000 loan and to cover the costs and expenses incurred in recouping the assets.”
Posted June 17, 2014
