Recently Backstage announced that the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), AFL-CIO, has affiliated with the American Federation of Musicians (AFM). Asked about the agreement, the AFM publicity department said we must have called the wrong union. We contacted AGMA for information, and were told to contact AGMA’s press relations representative, Kevin McAuliffe. McAuliffe provided us with a press release, which gave the following details of the situation. The agreement of affiliation, finalized on August 5, will not be precisely a merger; each union will remain essentially unchanged, as they were pre-agreement. The hope is that this agreement will mean a stronger mechanism for musicians, through more information sharing and a more unified front. Gerald Otte, president of AGMA, is quoted in the press release as having said of the agreement, “…From now on, the management of every major opera company… will know that when it deals with us, it is dealing with two unions, not just one.”
The ramifications of the affiliation agreement are far-reaching. AGMA lags far behind AFM in membership (5,000 as compared to 115,000), and the much more powerful AFM stands to benefit AGMA members. One concern for AGMA members was membership dues, but we were assured that no changes will be made in the way AGMA runs, or in its original mission.
Many professional singers have had to join other unions as well, because of opera telecasts, movies, etc., which do not fall under AGMA’s jurisdiction. Two of these unions, The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), are still in talks about an actual merger. AFTRA has 30,000 members; SAG has 90,000. According to Backstage, several issues remain to be resolved in a satisfactory way, including health coverage and a possible projected budget deficit for the new joint union.
The issue of uniting the two unions is by no means a new one. In 1980, the unions worked together to negotiate a Pay-TV strike, paving the way for thoughts of an eventual merger. But the problem thus far seems to be in making a concrete decision to go forward with the merger at all. Problems of how to pay for the projected $5-million first-year deficit are the biggest of the roadblocks thus far, with differences between the two unions’ individual health-care coverage a close second.
What does this mean for singers? What if opera singers go on strike? Will AFM musicians join us? The issues impacting the solo singer tend to be different from those affecting an orchestral musician. How much difference will this make, if any? These are just a few of the many questions surrounding the AGMA/AFM affiliation and the larger issue of union mergers past, present and future. Concerned singers should contact AGMA at (212) 265-3687
