Chapter 09-BOHP_2010-02-05_AlNatale

Description

Chapter 9 FB: What does the union do for musicians now? Do they have retirement plans and benefits and all that stuff? AN: They do. They've had that for a long time. Well, the national had it for years. Again, we go back to local autonomy, and each local would get their own pension going with the employer, whoever would be designated as an employer, who would book through the contractor. That was a little touchy subject but they finally resolved it. The basic thing of the union is to protect the musician. Like I said, you have all these bylaws. When the member joins he takes an oath on his honour to abide by the bylaws. I mentioned the minimum and things like that and I used to go out and check to see if they broke the minimum or not paid the fellow's scale. FB: Do you have any funny stories about policing bands or somebody whose non-union players are playing or somebody who hasn't paid their union dues or any of that stuff? AN: Well, I would come across that mostly with travelling musicians. They were the ones, in my opinion, who really needed attention. And at the time, we had what was called the travel dues. So a group would come to Boston to work a night club, he would have to pay a certain percentage to play in the area, because, indirectly, he would be replacing the local musician. FB: So it is a small surcharge? AN: Yeah, that was the theory of it. A lot of times if they came in the area they paid their dues but for a three month period. What do you do when a group comes in for the last two weeks and they book them for a month and the next two weeks of their contract falls into the new era? So they are being penalized twice. That created a problem. FB: Were there ways of resolving it amicably? AN: Well, they did eventually, but I always complained about that whenever I went to the national convention, because it was a national bylaw. And eventually they got with it. That's why I said that the union should've paid more attention to the younger players that were on the road. FB: There would be more and more mobility as time wore on. AN: They are now. We have some very good national leaders now that are doing very well and keeping good communication with the younger players and some very good ways of helping them. If they have a trouble in the local, they call the federation and one of our local representatives will go to the job, find out what the situation is, and try to resolve it. FB: Were you active in the union until recently? AN: Oh no, I retired about fifteen some-odd years ago. FB: That long ago? AN: Oh, yes. Like everything else, I had my limit. And I'd had enough of it. FB: You’d done enough. They had never gotten to the point where they would have national bans, or no green cards for visiting players in England, say, and then we have ... AN: That's a whole different problem, you are talking about the foreign musicians coming in. FB: It isn't just a travel thing. It is international travel now. AN: That was also a problem going way back with the Boston Symphony. When Koussevitsky was in. He was a great guy, Koussevitsky, he wasn't anti-union as a founder of the Symphony was. And the Boston Symphony was the last symphony in the United States to join the American Federation of Musicians. That's right! Petrillo worked, he was our national president, he worked hand in hand with Mr. Koussevitsky, the conductor of the Boston Symphony and it took a long time to get that together. We have a very good relationship now thanks to Mr. Koussevitsky and Mr. Petrillo. They got along instead of fighting one another! FB: I lost my train of thought. Let's talk about your legacy, your own personal legacy with Berklee. AN: Oh very good. Thank you for bringing that up. Like I mentioned earlier, what I was thinking about, I just mentioned it, it seems like I am emulating Herb Alpert all the way. I see his foundation here at all, of course I've started a what they called a irrevocable foundation--not a foundation--well, I forget the word now but anyway it is a scholarship for brass players and it's been here at Berklee for ten or eleven years. I started that with an amount of $10,000. What I did when I sold one of my properties, with part of the profit I created the scholarship, an endowment. Berklee handles it completely, they invest the money, and they keep it floating by the interest that the investment kicks in and it keeps adding to the total of it. And it keeps growing and every year they add a little more the scholarship and every year I add an amount to it because I like to keep building it up. I want to hear the good mark. And so that's what I do every year. I am very privileged, this year they called me and invited me to attend the audition of the trumpet players that they're going to audition for the scholarship. They are having it down the street here on Boylston Street this coming Wednesday, next week and it's at 7:30. FB: It's probably at the Uchida Building. AN: That's the one. I am looking forward to it. FB: You'll hear some good brass! AN: Absolutely, and I'm giving it a good check! FB: As a working musician and a union man, what was your take on Berklee College of Music that was a family run organization and that resisted--they didn't have any union here for a long, long time. Did you take a stand or have any opinion about the AFT, American Federation of Teachers, coming in here at Berklee? AN: No, at that time none of that ever came in, 'cause I'll tell you what ...