Dionne Warwick: ‘Fair Pay for Air Play’ About Economic Justice
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Little did the public know that when they heard Dionne Warwick sing, “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” and other hits on the radio for the past four decades, none of the money made off the airplay found its way to her—it all went in the radio station owners’ pockets.
Now Warwick and other performers have a chance to finally get what they are due—but Big Radio CEOs are resorting to personal attacks in an effort to derail legislation that would pay performers like Warwick when their music is played on the radio.
Writing today on the Huffington Post, Warwick says the Civil Rights for Musicians Act (H.R. 848), dubbed “Fair Pay for Air Play,”
is about economic justice for African American artists. It’s about what’s right. And it’s about time.
‘Fair Pay for Air Play’ Won’t Hurt Black Radio Stations
The Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (CBTU) and the A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) have joined with the NAACP to put to rest the false claims that legislation to give fair pay to performers whose music is played on radio would hurt black radio stations.
If enacted, the Civil Rights for Musicians Act (H.R. 848), dubbed “Fair Pay for Air Play,” would protect the rights of performers by ensuring that they get paid a fair wage when their music is played on the radio. The bill would close a loophole in copyright law that allows AM and FM stations to duck royalty payments to performing artists.
Big Radio conglomerates have pulled out all the stops to derail the bill. In an all-too-familiar scenario, corporate executives are resorting to personal attacks against the bill’s supporters, especially the bill’s sponsor, Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.). They also have launched a misinformation campaign led by black-owned mega-company Radio One, which claims the legislation would hurt African American radio stations.
Professional Workers Form Coalition to Protect Public Interest
A coalition of 19 organizations representing professional employees today announced the creation of Professionals for the Public Interest: Associations and Unions Defending Professional Integrity (PftPI) to defend the ability of professionals to do their jobs right, despite outside pressures from bosses, politicians and others.
According to the AFL-CIO Department for Public Employees (DPE), polling over many years has shown that for professionals, the ability to do the job right is a priority as important as, or more important than, compensation and benefits. Professionals choose what they want to do, invest in extensive education and training and value the latitude to meet professional standards.
Yet professionals face extensive financial and political pressures that endanger their ability to turn out quality work and, as a result, endanger the public they serve, DPE says. For example, scientists found that the Bush administration regularly twisted the results of their research to fit a political agenda. Nurses are engaged in ongoing struggles to provide better service by safe staffing, and teachers seek to reduce class sizes.
Artists for Employee Free Choice
Yesterday, 47 top performers from Broadway and Hollywood launched Artists for Workers Choice, an exciting new campaign for the Employee Free Choice Act, sharing their support for this crucial working families’ legislation in a new video.
As one of the actors in the video, Jerry Stiller (also known as Seinfeld’s “Frank Costanza”) says the freedom to bargain for a better life is critical to an economy that works for everyone.
I’ve belonged to three unions in my life and every one gave me the freedom to bargain with my co-workers for decent hours, benefits, and safe conditions. If all workers don’t have the freedom to form unions, I don’t see how we can fix our economy.
The Stars Align for Employee Free Choice Act
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From the big screen to the Broadway stage, a stellar lineup of stars is joining the fight for working families.
Amy Brenneman, Nancy Giles, Esai Morales and Mike Farrell are among 47 performing artists who have taped a new video in support of the Employee Free Choice Act.
Brenneman, one of the television actors appearing in the video, says the freedom to form a union gives working families the economic security they need:
“People associate actors with fame and glory. The truth is for a long time my union contract was the reason I could support my family. That’s why I support the Employee Free Choice Act. Because each worker, regardless of their field, deserves the freedom to bargain for a contract, for a better life.”
Released today, the video and list of performing artists and their bios are available at the new website, Artists for Workers’ Choice (artists4workerschoice.org).
These artists—including Oscar, Emmy, Grammy and Tony award winners and nominees—together with veteran writers and technicians, have created a clear, impassioned explanation of why America’s workers need the Employee Free Choice Act to restore balance in the workplace and have the bargaining power they need to rebuild a strong middle class.
AFTRA, AFM Call for ‘Fair Play for Air Play’
You can take a stand for the folks in the band today and tomorrow. Let your congressional representatives know that it’s time that radio stops stiffing musicians and recording artists and pays the piper…and the singers, guitar players, drummers, keyboardists….
When a song is played on what is known as “terrestrial radio”—the radio you receive over the air—the men and women who play and sing do not receive a single penny in royalties for the music they created. But if that same tune is played on satellite radio, streamed on the Internet or piped in through cable TV music channels, the band gets paid.
AT&T Workers: ‘No Way’ to Huge Health Care Cuts and More Bargaining News
Contract talks stalled between 90,000 workers and AT&T over management demands for huge health care cuts and more updates from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
WORK STOPPAGES, JOB ACTIONS
CWA, AT&T: Health care benefits remain a contentious issue in negotiations between more than 90,000 members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and AT&T. The CWA bargaining website indicates that management is making outrageous claims that if they cannot make huge cuts to health care, then they will face the same problems as the Big Three automakers. CWA officials characterized the talks as “stalled.”
CWA, New Jersey: Thousands of New Jersey state workers represented by CWA protested against furloughs and wage freezes. ”There were more than 100 picket lines statewide,” said Hetty Rosenstein, New Jersey director for the CWA.
It’s Crazy That Musicians Don’t Get Paid Royalties for ‘Terrestrial Radio’
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When you hear a song on your car radio, the boombox you’ve got in your garage or some other form of what’s known as “terrestrial radio,” you probably figure the folks who made that music are getting paid. The artists who wrote the music do receive royalties for airplay, but the men and women doing the singing and playing get squadoosh, nada, nothing.
However, if that same tune is played on satellite radio, streamed on the Internet or piped in through cable TV music channels, the band gets paid.
It’s time to close that loophole in copyright law, Paul Almeida, president of the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees (DPE), told a House committee.
Performers Call for Fairness in Radio
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Frank Sinatra couldn’t get them. Dionne Warwick hasn’t gotten them in nearly 50 years, and Sheryl Crow and Herbie Hancock still can’t get them. For more than four decades, musicians and singers have been trying to get royalties, also known as performance rights, for music their fans listen to every day on the radio.
Here’s the deal. If music you perform is played on satellite radio, streamed on the Internet or piped in through cable TV music channels, you get paid a royalty. But due to a loophole in copyright law, if the music is played on FM or AM radio, only the composer gets a royalty and the performer gets nothing. The United States is one of only a few countries that do not provide fair performance rights on radio. The others include Qatar, Iraq, Iran, North Korea and China.
Actually, U.S. performers get stiffed from royalties twice. Because U.S. radio stations do not pay a performance royalty for foreign artists either, American artists are not compensated when their music is played on stations around the world.
Yesterday, more than 90 members of the American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM) and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) from across the country met with members of Congress from their home states to call for full performance rights in sound recordings broadcast over AM/FM radio. They asked lawmakers to support the Performance Rights Act (H.R. 848 and S.379), which if enacted would bring the United States in line with almost every other nation in the world.
Ferry Workers Forgo Raises to Help Washington State, and More Bargaining News
Some 1,500 ferry workers voluntarily forgo raises to help Washington state, and more updates here from the “Bargaining Digest Weekly.” The AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Department delivers daily, bargaining-related news and research resources to more than 900 subscribers. Union leaders can register for this service through our website, Bargaining@Work.
SETTLEMENTS
Multiple Unions, Washington State: In Washington state, some 1,500 state ferry workers will voluntarily forgo raises they negotiated with Gov. Chris Gregoire last year because of the downturn in the economy. The raises would have ranged from 1.6 percent to 10.7 percent. Workers are represented by several unions, including the Inlandboatmen’s Union (IBU-ILWU); Masters, Mates and Pilots (MMP-ILA); Puget Sound Metal Trades Council (MTC); Marine Engineers Benevolent Association (MEBA); and the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU).
