Yesterday I got a very strange call, at least to me.

Every year for the past 15 or so I play a Christmas cocktail reception for the NJ Realtors Convention in Atlantic City NJ. Over the years its been held in two different Casinos but always the same type gig. For years I would off load onto my R & R cart, valet park, and take the stuff up myself. This year I was told by some management company I would have to have Union Workers handle my equipment ! When I explained it was just a small setup and I always did it myself I was told new rules dictate that anything coming into the Casino must be handled this way. And I was told the Realtor's office that booked me would be charged.
Now I was a teacher for 35 years and believed our Union was important to us but this is ridiculous. I'm not Bon Jovi coming in with 5 tractor trailers !!
I've also worked in New York City which is really crazy with these kind of rules and handled my equip. myself. I could barley get someone at the back door loading dock to show me where the elevator was. They couldn't care less about helping me.

Another point that bothers me is if people are going to be charged extra for booking small time entertainment what does it say for future bookings ? And will the next step be that all Casino music must be Union, whether its part of one of their shows or just in one of their private reception rooms as I'm playing in?
( Which for NJ I don't know if the Musicians Union still exists. It was a joke when I belonged years ago.)

Bill, I used to go through the same BS when I worked for The Fisherman Magazines and we had a booth at the New York National Boat Show. We could back up to the loading dock, but THEY had to unload the gear on to the loading dock, then take it to the location inside the hall where it was to be set up. They guys at the loading dock pretty much told us that if we wanted to see that stuff, at least in one piece again, it would require a $50 tip. After we set up the booth, which took all of 20 minutes, we were not allowed to plug into the power strip behind the booth. That required a union electrician - and guess what, it was a $150 fee for plugging in a single plug. Ya gotta love NY and NJ.

Gary

That has been the case at Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport, former home of the Louisiana Hayride, and I suppose it still is. You can't tote your gear in. I must say they were very professional and careful, and certainly didn't extort a tip! As far as I know they were paid by the venue, because they didn't charge me anything, and there was no agent involved.
Can't remember if I OFFERED a tip, but I usually do if someone helps load my gear. It would be $5.00 though, not 50!

I have experienced this in Wildwood, NJ..several venues, most evident, the Wildwood Convention Center..

We would pull up to the loading dock...and company guys hauled the equipment...

Where were they when we had to hand carry across the beach to a temp stage..

McCormick in Chicago was the WORST! The National Hardware show was held there for years.

To get things set up, I carried $1,000.00 in $50.00 dollar bills to pay "Tips"-bribes to get things off dead center. If you had a box of slides, for instance, a carpenter could put the carousel on the machine (you couldn't), but you had to wait for an electrician (read that-break out another fifty) to plug it in.

The first year Square D Company had me booked to play the piano at the Lakeshore suite (top floor), I wasn't through the first tune before the union showed up. I had a card and was booked by a private company, but at McCormick, you had to have a pre-arranged visiting artist's badge from the local.

The Union bartender, whom I had requested the previous three years turned me in.

He never worked our suite again.


Russ Lay

As some of the above posts indicate, it's not just NY and NJ ... I even had a similar situation in a hotel in RI ...

When you get south of Richmond, the problems seem to vanish. No problems playing anywhere along the Intra Coastal Waterway and the Florida Keys.

Cheers,

Gary

Never came across this stuff up here in Canada, either. Nor in the UK before that. Mind you, a lot of things trickle down, so who knows?

UNIONS ... grrrrrrrr

They were necessary and very helpful when they began, but to a large degree they have gotten out of hand ...

agreed.

A union is a bit like a gun...

Not so good when the other guy has one, and you don't!

Musicians have always actively done most everything they could to emasculate their OWN union, and basically disenfranchise themselves from any sort of collective bargaining power.

So now, that union guy handles your gear, and goes home to his wife with a job (whether he's the best handler or not), and you have no power to make sure you do the same. Well done!

I wish to hell someone would offer to haul my gear once in awhile. Just kidding.

Joe

I have all the power over my destiny, cuz I chose to bypass the unions. I will never work in Hollywood or certain other Union facilities, but I'm fine with that. I was in the UAW as a teenager ... never again. I control my world now.

My dad was a truck driver for 45 years, and as such was required to join the Teamsters Union. He often said that if had $10 for every day he was on strike for higher wages he could have retired 20 years earlier.

Gary

Being a teacher I was never a big Union supporter but seeing how the nepotism and political favoritism ruled the district it was all we had to back us. They even sold us out after a two week strike years ago. And we were forced to join or pay 75% of the dues anyway. On one occasion early in my career I had a situation where I might have needed their help but took care of it myself. But again if you needed some legal backing they were there for you.
This thing in AC is so stupid its got me crazy. I have the feeling that this may be my last gig there after a long run. This management company is probably billing the Realtors more for the unloading BS then I'm getting paid. So next year we're both out of a gig. Another strike against us.

I needed the Musicians Union one time 30 years ago, and didn't get fair treatment, so I quit. Their loss, all I missed was 30 years of dues, work dues and BS. The only time I ever heard from them was when it was time to pay.

The Musicians Union - Local 802 - was very strong in New York City, even in Staten Island ...before joining the union I was hired to play a gig in a 'union' catering hall/restaurant ... I told the people who wanted to hire me that being non-union, if the delegate came in he could stop me from playing ... they said they didn't care and hired me anyway ... I played a little more than half the gig and in comes the delegate ... he tells me and the client that he would order the entire staff - waitresses, bartenders, kitchen, etc. to walk out if I didn't stop playing ... I stopped, the client told me to stay and have dinner, paid me, AND gave me the tip they were going to give me at the end of the gig ...
about a month later I joined the union ... it worked out well us ... they imposed 'minimums' on the number of musicians a person would have to hire for catering halls, etc., which helped put more musicians to work ... plus we got to know the local delegate pretty well and he would book us for gigs through the union...
During the 70s the 'house band' for several large catering halls in NY brought a suit against the union regarding the room 'minimums', he won the case and I believe that the decision also stipulated that you did not have to belong to the union to play in these halls ... that pretty much stripped the musicians union's power as far as catering halls and restaurants was concerned ...

If you want to take a look at why the middle class has been taking it on the chin since the 80's, while upper management has been raking it in, you only have to look to how unions in general have been stripped of their power.

One of my finest moments was when I threw the local rep off the front steps o the Hotel I was playing when he threatened to stop bread and other supplies from being delivered by union drivers.

Never saw the guy again. I had gone to the union headquarters every year after sending in my check for renewal months before.
I told the Union president, along with the treasurer that I had better get my card in the mail after this last trip or they could kiss my membership goodby.

Year after year, I got a gig that required membership, and i had to chase down the dudes who ran the silly thing for the update on the card. They usually got the old card, crossed out the date and wrote in a new one.

No hard feelings, though. I had dinner with ED, the former union rep a week or so ago. Pretty good trombone player, actually.

R.

My school has no unions, no tenure, no contracts. We all love it that way. Merit only - you work, you get paid. You work harder, you get more.

Must be the Utopia of Education. Who decides who's working harder, who should be hired or dismissed ? How do they keep the factors I mentioned in my previous post out of it? Test scores? Oh boy, can we go off on that !!!
In 35 years working in a variety of schools in a big District I saw too much to tell me a situation like that can be fair. And back to my previous post, what if you are in a situation where you might need legal help. In todays lawsuit happy world you need that protection unless you have deep pockets to retain your own lawyers.
Union was a necessary evil.

My place is very unique, in fact, that's WHY I work there. It's non-traditional in every sense. ONE WOMAN (my boss) controls the whole show. It's a true family, and I wouldn't be there if the traditional school board tactics were in effect. My place is a one in a lifetime find, and I'm so grateful that she decided to buck the system. Unions are of no use to me. I would never strike, and I would never honor a strike if I believed that the cause was unjust. Teachers, nurses, cops ... strikes should be illegal. Just my point of view. I don't want to argue, but I firmly believe it.

If there ever was a time for the musicians union to do any good and instead failed miserably to step up was in the 70's with the advent of disco.
So many musicians lost their venues!
The union? Bah humbug

I dunno ... Disco packed every room I worked 6-7 nights a week with live dancers to live music. No electronics yet ... we played every note. The 80s was when the bands sorta "shrunk", and I began my solo career. Disco was a necessary evil - it was nothing more than a new dance craze, and some crazy fashion statements. The acid rock of the day was no better, but it sure drew different people. My crowds were dressed to the nines, spent tons of cash and socialized all night long. They danced from the first number to the last. I kinda miss it. Reminds me of the stories I heard about the big band era, when couples would hold each other at the end of a number (while they applauded) and wait for the next musical offering from the bandstand.
The same DJ's that supposedly put musicians out of work also played the bands music on the air to make the acts more popular. The way I saw it - the only musicians who were put out of work because of electronics were bad, or lazy ones. I never had to look too hard for work.
I can't tell you how many club owners complained about the bands that took "too long breaks", brought their own drinks (in coolers in their cars), never socialized with the patrons, or refused to play the hits that were requested. Playing top 40 rooms meant that we played the songs that people heard all week long on the radio. We put our own spin on them, but we had to play the top hits of the day or loose the crowd. Dance halls are not jazz clubs or coffee houses. people dictate the genre, not the other way around.
The union could have helped the local road warriors by making sure they stayed current and played proper sets. I stole many a gig from a sloppy band who forgot who payed their salary.

I agree, back in the day - the unions needed to start up to protect the weak, but they went the wrong direction, and too many people get a free ride now, and that just burns me. Unions are the equivalent of schoolyard bullies now, and I have no room in my world for anyone who's mean. Work hard - get paid. That's my rule.

Once unions lost their legal ability to strike, once legislation that gave them little hope of collective bargaining was enacted (thank you, Mr. Reagan and almost everybody since), they lost the ability to work FOR you, and rapidly became a minor (or major, depending on the venue!) pain in the rear that couldn't really help you.

But yes, once upon a time, they did a lot of good.

Your rule, re-written to reflect today's reality is, 'Work hard, get paid ONLY what they are willing to give you'. And they keep the lion's share for themselves.

Diki ... come live in Rhode Island and tell me the unions have no power - ESPECIALLY the State workers unions !!!

And someone should tell the teachers' union they cannot go out on strike ...

You ARE in the Utopia of Education. It does sound like a once in a lifetime find. Do they have any openings ?? LOL !! I may have stayed in my job a while longer if not for the Administrative nonsense. I miss the interaction with the kids, kept me on my toes.