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American Federation of Musicians, Local 802 Records

Call Number

WAG.038

Dates

1921-2023, ongoing, inclusive
; 1980-1999, bulk

Creator

American Federation of Musicians. Local 802
American Federation of Musicians. Local 802 (Role: Donor)

Extent

128.5 Linear Feet in 130 record cartons and 3 oversize folders.
19.2 Megabytes on 16 5 1/4 inch floppy disks
108 audiocassettes
11 websites in 11 archived websites.

Language of Materials

Materials are in English.

Abstract

The American Federation of Musicians, Local 802 (Associated Musicians of Greater New York) is the largest local of professional musicians in the world. As of 2011, it represents approximately 10,000 members in and around New York City. Members work in many fields of music: rock, rhythm and blues, jazz, Latin, concert, theater, club date, night club, ballroom and symphonic. They are also instrumentalists, copyists, arrangers, orchestral librarians, proofreaders, and editors. Additionally, Local 802 regularly demonstrates solidarity with fellow unions (particularly other entertainment unions) and is deeply involved in lobbying for union rights. This collection consists of minutes, departmental files, and publications of Local 802. These records document Local 802's struggles on behalf of New York City musicians. Particularly valuable are the extensive minutes of the executive and trial boards, which provide great detail on the history of this important union.

Historical Note

The American Federation of Musicians, Local 802 (Associated Musicians of Greater New York) is the largest local of professional musicians in the world. As of 2011, it represents approximately 10,000 members in and around New York City. Members work in many fields of music: rock, rhythm and blues, jazz, Latin, concert, theater, club date, night club, ballroom and symphonic. They are also instrumentalists, copyists, arrangers, orchestral librarians, proofreaders, and editors. Additionally, Local 802 regularly demonstrates solidarity with fellow unions (particularly other entertainment unions) and is deeply involved in lobbying for union rights.

Local 802 was chartered on August 27, 1921. Its immediate predecessor was Local 310 of the AFM which held an independent charter from the State of New York. When Local 310 struck New York theaters against the wishes of AFM President Joseph N. Weber, the AFM set up the new Local 802.

From 1921-1934 Local 802 was under AFM trusteeship. A Congressional investigation into labor racketeering in 1934 prompted President Joseph N. Weber to permit the local to elect its own officers. By 1935 Local 802 was operating autonomously and opened its Long Island office. Members of Local 802 were employed wherever there was live musical entertainment. The union had a closed shop, oversaw all musicians' contracts and zealously brought up members on charges whenever the union rules were violated. During the 1920's and 1930's this included not only symphony and opera performance, but theater orchestras, restaurants, night clubs, hotel ballrooms, catering establishments, parades, amusement parks, funerals and radio broadcasts.

In 1928 there were 15,500 members in Local 802; by 1940 the membership had grown to 21,300. At its height in the 1950's and 1960's there were well over 30,000 members of Local 802.

The AFM was in litigation throughout the 1960's with the NLRB trying to settle the definitions of employer and employee in the entertainment business. Some adverse rulings made it difficult for the union to organize hotels and nightclubs. In the early 1960's the side musicians who played single club dates objected to the slowness of bargaining benefits and wage improvements and demanded speedier negotiations with board leaders who were employers. At the same time many full time professional musicians felt that the union leadership was using the part time membership to maintain control.

A reform movement in Local 802 arose between 1964-1966, but was not successful in capturing any major leadership positions. Nevertheless, between 1966-1980, there were some important reforms: 802 contracts had to be ratified by membership; a credit union was established in 1967; an emergency relief fund was developed; and an active rank and file committee system was established in the by laws. Formal opposition to Local 802's leadership emerged in 1980, instigated by classical, club date and recording musicians. The caucus called itself the MEMBERS party, an acronym for Make Every Musician Benefit from Efficient Responsible Service. In the 1982 election the MEMBERS party, led by John Glasel, was able to make an almost clean sweep of the Executive Board.

One of the Glasel Administration's first acts was to create a department of public relations and legislative affairs under Judy West, who served as its director from 1983-2000. At the same time, organizing campaigns targeting jazz musicians were stepped up, becoming one of the major activities of Local 802 in the following two decades. Glasel was succeeded by Bill Moriarity the Secretary of Local 802 in 1993. In 2003, David Lennon was elected unopposed, but lost the 2006 election to Mary Landolfi. Local 802 has been led by Tino Gagliardi since 2010.

In recent years, Local 802 has worked to address the impact of computers and the internet on musicians' livelihoods. It has also been involved in attempting to solidify the precarious financial condition of its parent union.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into twelve series:

Series I: Executive Board Files, 1921-1999

Series II: President's Office Files, 1967-2003

Series III: Secretary's Office Files, 1960s-early 2000s

Series IV: Concert Department Files, 1950s-1990s

Series V: General Files, 1922-2010

Series VI: Organizing Department Files, 1980s-mid 2000s

Series VII: Public Relations and Political Action Office Files, late 1970s-2000

Series VIII: Show Files, 1960s-2004

Series IX: Trial Board Files, 1922-1990s

Series X: Oversized Material, 1921-1990s

Series XI: Photographs, undated

Series XII: Archived Websites, 2007-ongoing

Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of minutes, departmental files, and publications of Local 802. These records document the local's struggles on behalf of New York City musicians. Particularly valuable are the minutes from the bi-weekly Executive Board and Trial Board meetings, as well as minutes from the more infrequent Regular Membership meetings. Executive Board deliberations and decisions include negotiations, concessions, membership status, local policy and expenditures. The Trial Board reviews infractions of the local laws and violations of wage scales, working conditions and other contractual matters for which members can be brought up on charges. Also included in the collection are records from the President's and Secretary's Offices, in addition to the Organizing, Public Relations and Political Action Offices.

Conditions Governing Access

Materials are open without restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Any rights (including copyright and related rights to publicity and privacy) held by the American Federation of Musicians, Local 802, were transferred to New York University in 2011 by the American Federation of Musicians, Local 802. Permission to publish or reproduce materials in this collection must be secured from Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Archives. Please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu, (212) 998-2630.

Preferred Citation

Identification of item, date; American Federation of Musicians, Local 802 Records; WAG 038; box number; folder number; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

To cite the archived websites in this collection: Identification of item, date; American Federation of Musicians, Local 802 Records; WAG 038; Wayback URL; Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives, New York University.

Location of Materials

Materials stored offsite and advance notice is required for use. Please contact special.collections@nyu.edu at least two business days prior to research visit.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by the American Federation of Musicians, Local 802, in 1978. The accession numbers associated with this gift are 1978.005 and 1978.009. Additional materials were sent in 1985 and 2011. The accession numbers associated with these materials are 2011.100 and 2011.113. The accession number NPA.2003.024 is also associated with this collection. The most recent donation of materials was in 2018. The accession number associated with this donation is 2019.028

https://www.local802afm.org/ was initially selected by curators and captured through the use of The California Digital Library's Web Archiving Service in 2007 as part of the Labor Unions and Organizations (U.S.) Web Archive. In 2015, this website was migrated to Archive-It. Archive-It uses web crawling technology to capture websites at a scheduled time and displays only an archived copy, from the resulting WARC file, of the website. In May 2020, https://erf.local802afm.org/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2020.044. In December 2020, https://www.savenycmusicians.com/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2021.057. In January 2021, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCw4IbKn0-Hr3V20wpva6zbg/videos was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2021.065. In May 2021, https://www.musicianscook.com/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2022.001. In February 2023, https://arc802.wordpress.com/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2023.020. In August 2023, http://www.fairshareformusicians.org/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2023.076. In Fall 2023, https://musiciansofnycb.com/, https://www.youtube.com/@musiciansofnewyorkcityball7808/videos/, and https://www.youtube.com/@Local802AFM/videos/ were added. The accession number associated with these websites is 2023.088. In December 2023, https://afmfairshareformusicians.org/ was added. The accession number associated with this website is 2024.004.

Audiovisual Access Policies and Procedures

Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers. Materials not yet digitized will need to have access copies made before they can be used. To request an access copy, or if you are unsure if an item has been digitized, please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu, (212) 998-2630 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Born-digital materials have not been transferred and may not be available to researchers. Researchers may request access copies. To request that material be transferred, or if you are unsure if material has been transferred, please contact tamiment.wagner@nyu.edu, (212) 998-2630 with the collection name, collection number, and a description of the item(s) requested. A staff member will respond to you with further information.

Take Down Policy

Archived websites are made accessible for purposes of education and research. NYU Libraries have given attribution to rights holders when possible; however, due to the nature of archival collections, we are not always able to identify this information.

If you hold the rights to materials in our archived websites that are unattributed, please let us know so that we may maintain accurate information about these materials.

If you are a rights holder and are concerned that you have found material on this website for which you have not granted permission (or is not covered by a copyright exception under US copyright laws), you may request the removal of the material from our site by submitting a notice, with the elements described below, to the special.collections@nyu.edu.

Please include the following in your notice: Identification of the material that you believe to be infringing and information sufficient to permit us to locate the material; your contact information, such as an address, telephone number, and email address; a statement that you are the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed and that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; a statement that the information in the notification is accurate and made under penalty of perjury; and your physical or electronic signature. Upon receiving a notice that includes the details listed above, we will remove the allegedly infringing material from public view while we assess the issues identified in your notice.

Collection processed by

Daniel Michelson

About this Guide

This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on 2024-01-10 13:14:50 -0500.
Using Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language: Finding aid is written in English

Processing Information

This collection has not been arranged by an archivist. The materials are arranged in the order in which they were received from the donor.

Photographs separated from this collection during processing were established as a separate collection, the American Federation of Musicians, Local 802 Photographs (PHOTOS 182). In 2013, the photograph collection was reincorporated into the American Federation of Musicians, Local 802 Records (WAG 038).

In 2014, the archived websites were added as Series XII. In 2019, materials from the 2019 accretion were incorporated into Series V. In 2020-2024, additional websites were added.

Revisions to this Guide

March 2019: Updated to include materials integrated from accession number 2019.028 by Jasmine Sykes-Kunk.
January 2024: Edited by Nicole Greenhouse to add additional archived websites and updated administrative information

Repository

Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives
Elmer Holmes Bobst Library
70 Washington Square South
2nd Floor
New York, NY 10012