Every three years the American Federation of Musicians convenes to hold elections of officers, enact legislation and create policy for our entire union. This June 19th the 103rd AFM Convention will meet in Ottawa, Canada. I will be leading our Local 47 delegation, along with Secretary/Treasurer and Delegate Gail Kruvand, Delegates Meredith Snow and Allison Allport, and, serving as an International Executive Board Officer, Vice President John Acosta. Diana Wade will be participating as a Delegate from the Recording Musicians Association, alongside the delegates from all of the AFM Player Conferences.

In each Convention year, the May edition of the International Musician presents all of the Recommendations (legislation proposed by the current administration) and Resolutions (legislation proposed by delegates and locals), as well as brief statements by candidates for office. 

John Acosta has served on the AFM International Executive Board for ten years. In an historic election in 2016, John was the first person of color elected to the IEB. He has represented our Local and musicians across the continent, and represented a strong, smart and  independent voice in our Federation leadership. John came to me earlier this year and explained that he had decided not to run for another term, and asked me to run for the IEB to represent Local 47. I am honored to have earned John’s trust, and have thrown my hat in the ring to succeed him on the IEB. We all owe John Acosta a great debt of gratitude for his years of contribution and representation at the Federation on our behalf!

There are 46 proposals to amend the AFM bylaws to be addressed by the Convention, covering a wide range of topics. Each proposal is first addressed by appointed committees. This year, several of our Local 47 delegation will serve on committees, including Meredith Snow, Gail Kruvand and me.

So what does all of this have to do with the daily lives of musicians? Plenty! The power, visibility and respect our AFM aspires to and deserves is dependent on both the leadership elected, the finances made available, and the policies enacted at the Convention. 

The commitment to organizing made by the 2023 Convention led to the resources to help the Teaching Artists of the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles (YOLA) to organize with Local 47 for their first-ever union coverage. The AFM is bringing two of the wonderful leaders of our YOLA organizing team, Alex Rosales Garcia and Laura Arganbright to Ottawa to receive an organizing award! They will be accompanied by our own Local 47 Director of Organizing Eva Nevarez. 

We look forward to returning at the end of June with a full report on the 103rd AFM Convention!