\u201cTwo Countries, One Union: The 130-Year Journey of the AFM and Canada\u201d was the central theme of the 103rd AFM Convention. Hosted by the Musicians\u2019 Association of Ottawa-Gatineau, it began with a land acknowledgement of the unceded and unsurrendered traditional lands of the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation on which it took place. We were welcomed by Claudette Commanda, from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation and Chancellor of the University of Ottawa. Her grandson sang a traditional welcome and blessing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While this was not my first time attending an AFM Convention (I had attended twice before in 2019 & 2023 in my capacity as ICSOM Chairperson), it was my first time as a voting delegate. Rather than sitting on the sidelines I, along with President Sazer, Secretary-Treasurer Kruvand, and Delegate Allport, represented the voices of every member of Local 47.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The main business of the tri-annual Convention is to elect the International Officers and Executive Committee (more on that later) and to address proposed amendments to the AFM Bylaws. Recommendations are submitted to the body by the International Executive Board and Resolutions come from the Locals and Player Conferences. This time around, there were a whopping 42 proposals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before the Rec. & Res. proposals come to the Convention floor, they undergo review and consolidation by committees (e.g. Law, Finance, Measures & Benefits, etc.) composed of Delegates chosen by the Executive Board. These committees will merge duplicate submissions, adjudicate necessity or efficacy, and in some instances rewrite and submit a substitute Resolution. The hours of labor involved in this effort had started days before I even arrived and continued throughout the Convention. I had it pretty easy on the Organization & Legislation committee\u2014we dealt with only four Resolutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first day and a half were taken up with \u201cceremonial\u201d speeches from AFM Officers, affiliated unions, supporting businesses, and eulogies\u2014endless eulogies. By the time we finally got down to the business of the convention it was late afternoon and we were facing a mountain of work. I was not the only person in the room experiencing frustration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Few people today are conversant in Robert\u2019s Rules of Order. Even when you know the rules, applying them on the fly in front of 300 people can be nerve wracking. There were many first time delegates who were struggling with the format and the situation was not helped by the incoherence of the Chair who was also struggling. The frustration mounted, due in no small part to the age-old dichotomy of the National asking for more money from the Locals and the Locals asking for greater services from the National. You could have drawn a through line from one proposal to the next\u2026..<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the evening of the penultimate day, elections were held. The offices of President (Tino Gagliardi), Secretary-Treasurer (Ken Shirk), and Vice President from Canada (Allistair Elliot), ran unopposed and won by acclimation. Every other incumbent was voted out of office with the exception of our Local 47 Vice President John Acosta who did not seek reelection to the Executive Committee. Thank you John, for your 10 years of service on the National level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The good news is that everyone is laser focused on organizing. In order to survive, we must grow our membership. Resources are available and more are on the way. Tax incentives to keep recording here at home are ramping up. And we are all hands on deck to face the threat of AI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Diana Wade, RMA Delegate<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Walking into my first AFM convention felt a little like the first day of summer camp where it seems like everyone else knows everybody, except for you. This was almost immediately broken because 1. I knew my colleagues from the Local 47 delegation and 2. I know and have worked with many of the AFM staff and officers. (Also, name tags help.) The international convention, which meets once every three years, is a time to do the business of our union at the largest scale: international officers are elected, crucial amendments are made to our bylaws, and we hear from labor dignitaries from other entertainment unions like IATSE and AGMA as well as international musicians unions like the MU in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I attended as a delegate for the Recording Musicians Association. As a players conference delegate, I could not vote, but I could participate in testimony and debate as well as serving on a committee. I was asked by President Gagliardi to join the organizing committee. Organizing was a big topic at the convention from every angle- how do we define it? How have we succeeded in organizing musicians? I was really excited to address the entire convention and share the successes of our recording musicians and the use of our Contract Action Team (CAT) system in our preparations for the last AMPTP negotiations. Musicians at every size local are concerned about organizing being a \u201cbottom-up\u201d or member led movement, but I think there is also usually a time where those members need help- whether it\u2019s help with the legalities of doing a card check, or learning about systems (like a CAT) that can facilitate a movement musicians are already interested in. This is why it is particularly exciting to me to see the organizing department at the AFM continuing to grow. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I found it rewarding to meet and reconnect with fellow musicians who are fighting for the rights of artists all over the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico. As the AFM tries to reverse the trend in membership to a positive one, there were many discussions about how our union can represent all musicians better- from theaters, to clubs, to venues we haven\u2019t even thought of yet. The way we can all help our union represent us better is by speaking up, coming to meetings, inviting someone you haven\u2019t seen at a meeting to come with you to one. Three years ago, I walked a picket line with some WGA friends and had barely attended a meeting before and now I am getting to be in conversations about the fundamental policies of our union. I heard the same story over and over \u201cI went to a meeting once, and now I run my local\u201d or \u201cI was asked to do this thing I didn\u2019t totally know how to do, but now I\u2019m a passionate activist.\u201d The first step or two might feel the scariest because you feel like you are out of your element, but we all started somewhere similar. I hope each one of you reading this takes a chance on our union and shows up to a meeting, makes a phone call to the local, or comes out to a rally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Below are excerpts from the AFM Convention program, including a statement from Congresswoman Judy Chu in support and AFM Local 47’s ad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n AFM Local 47 delegate Meredith Snow and RMA delegate Diana Wade provide their reports below on the AFM International’s 103rd Convention.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12112,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12106","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/afm47.org\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/conv1.png\")
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