Why Join AFM?
As a union member, you will have access to resources and benefits that your predecessors and peers have fought for, created, and continue to support, including legal services, contract protection, rehearsal space, insurance, business guidance, performance grants, scholarships, emergency relief, and more.
But even more importantly, you will be part of a growing movement of workers that understand that the way forward is through collective action and support: we can achieve so much more together than alone. Local 99 is an organization of over 500 musicians in Oregon and SW Washington, the American Federation of Musicians includes over 60 thousand musicians in the United States and Canada, and the U.S. union movement is 14 million workers and growing. With those numbers comes solidarity and strength, and over the years we have achieved many things to improve musicians’ lives (above and beyond the union contracts we negotiate which create good pay and working conditions for musicians). Together we can continue to make our government and society work better for musicians and working people.
Here are just a few things musicians have achieved by working together:
In Portland:
- Musician Loading Zones—We successfully advocated for a pilot project opening some loading zones in Portland to musicians. The pilot project has been extended, and we are working to expand the sites. Learn more here: https://pdxmusicloading.com/
- Music Education Assistance Project—Local 99 members created the Music Education Assistance Project, which provides scholarships for private instruction to musically gifted students in financial need. MEAP website
Nationwide:
- The Music Performance Trust Fund [MUSIC PERFORMANCE TRUST FUND]—through negotiations with the recording industry, the AFM created a system where industry-contributed royalties from record sales flow into a fund to employ musicians for admission-free, live, public performances. When the MPTF began disbursal in 1947, it became the largest single employer of live musicians in the world, and is funding live performances around the country to this day.
- The National Endowment for the Arts. AFM advocacy helped create this independent government agency, and helps keep it strong: In 2021, the NEA budget was $167 million.
You can read more about our accomplishments here
Are you ready to join your fellow musicians in standing together to improve our working conditions?
By working together, we create the power we need to achieve our goals for the industry.
