The Austin Federation of Musicians has been active in Austin since 1907.
Blair Robbins, secretary-treasurer; Aaron Lack, president; and Russell K. Shores, vice president, pose for a portrait in the office of the Austin Federation of Musicians.lately. But did you know there’s a labor union for musicians in Austin?“I'm not aware of any musicians union,” he said on a recent Friday at Cheer-Up Charlies.
In return, union members get to use standard union contracts with employers and get the union's full legal support should something go wrong. “When you're using your own money … you have to make a value judgment, like, am I going to spend $10,000 in legal fees to recover my $3,000 artist fee that's being withheld from me?” Lack said. “But when it's the union, we don't have to make that value judgment because it's an industry concern, and it doesn't matter how small that artist's fee is or how big it is.”
Union members can also contribute to a pension. Every time they file a gig through the union, they can contribute a percentage of that minimum wage to the pension. When they reach retirement age, they’ll have a guaranteed income for the rest of their lives. Being a union member can make it possible for musicians to get paid if recordings they performed on are played in television shows or movies. They can get discounts on insurance plans, loans and more. But the tangible benefits are secondary to the transformational benefits, said Lack and Blair Robbins, the union’s secretary-treasurer.
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