News from AFM 802, the NYC Musicians' Union

A couple of interesting items in press releases this week -

• U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer announced [on July 17] that the American Federation of Musicians and Employers Pension Plan, which represents nearly 50,000 union members in the entertainment industry from Broadway to musicians in orchestras, bands, film, and theaters across the country, will receive a whopping $1.5 billion pension-fix from the American Rescue Plan. Schumer said that this will ensure that musicians and their families receive the hard-earned benefits that they paid into their whole lives, but lost through no fault of their own and were set to go insolvent by 2034. “Sweet music! The American Federation of Musicians Plan that covers retirement benefits for nearly 50,000 musicians from Broadway to orchestras to film is getting the pensions relief they have needed to the tune of a whopping $1.5 billion dollars. So many AFM members thought it would lights out and closing curtain for their pensions by 2034, but because of the pension reform I championed in the American Rescue Plan they can now breathe a sigh of relief,” said Senator Schumer. “When I became majority leader, I promised I would not stop fighting until our union brothers and sisters and their families got the pension relief they needed and earned, and today it is music to my ears to hear they will finally get the relief they have long needed.”
• The union "enthusiastically" endorses Vice President Kamala Harris for president.