Re: Union Bands
Posted by Brenda Whitaker
on April 21, 2021, 11:41 pm, in reply to "
Re: Union Bands"
I'm sure that some people think they know the issues, but here are the real issues. Yes the union, out of New York reimbursed 1/2 of the fee (the local Union paid nothing) But Alfresco Productions had to front the money and wait for reimbursement. There were several sponsors but not enough to cover the entire season even after the reimbursement Alfresco Productions took a loss on that event. The cost of the bands isn't the only expense. Alfresco Productions must supply insurance for every event they produce. This is not a city event or a park event - the park is just the venue. A P&L statement was provided to the local union along with the park district. There weren't even enough union bands to cover the season so the UNION itself brought in non union bands and still required Alfresco Productions to pay union scale at $400.00 per event when in fact several bands charge less than that at local establishments. After many complaints about the caliber of some and the inappropriateness of others "I" decided that Alfresco would be their own booking agent and book who we and the public wanted and for the fee dictated by the band and not the union for this "free" family friendly community event. I was a union member for many years and for the life of me I'm not sure why this has come to this other than the fact that I would not back down. No one at anytime strong-armed a band to play! So let me tell EVERYONE what will happen... I will proceed with the bands that we have already booked (union and non union) but I will think long and hard if I want to continue this and if I choose not to you can thank this union for costing the public an evening of "free" entertainment and they will be costing these bands an opportunity to be paid (their price) for what they enjoy doing. If anyone thinks that this should be handled differently I welcome you to create your own production company, take all of the risk and then have to put up with this complete nonsense -it isn't as easy as some may think. I'll be happy to step aside. Now if you'll excuse me I'm trying to rebuild my businesses after this pandemic so I can fund the arts organization that I created which provides these "free" events! Brenda
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