A.F.M.'s Ultimatum

Because radio transcriptions, records and sound tracks make their continuous work unnecessary, 11,000 musicians are permanently unemployed and many more suffer, but not in silence, sporadic layoffs. Long an opponent of "canned" music, author of the first ban on recordings without union sanction was James C. Petrillo, surly boss of the Chicago branch of the American Federation of Musicians. Petrillo's ban lost Chicago musicians $125,000 worth of record and radio dates, but it made Petrillo a Labor hero (TIME, Jan. 4). That he would urge national adoption of the record ban was a foregone conclusion at the recent A. F. of M. convention in Louisville (TIME, June 21). Possibly because he felt the time was ripe, possibly because he sensed his own militancy was under question, Joseph N. Weber, national president of the Federation for 37 years, plumped heavily for Petrillo's plan, gave a special committee 30 days to prepare the attack. Last week President Weber called representatives of radio, cinema and record companies to deliberate with A. F. of M. officials in Manhattan, made sure they would come by threatening a nation-wide musicians' strike August 14 in case the parley failed.

Optimistic Joe Weber expected to settle the hash of broadcasters the first four days of last week. At week's end, however, radio conferences were still going strong & stormily. What progress the A. F. of M. was making nobody would say. But few were naive enough to suppose that such powerful chains as National Broadcasting Co. and Columbia would accept Boss Weber's demands without a fight.

Boiled down, the union's demands were simple and thoroughgoing. Every radio station that used records would have to maintain an acceptable number of musicians on its payroll. All these musicians must be union members. No station could transmit music to a pickup station that did not employ musicians. Every station must be licensed by the A. F. of M., use only records and transcriptions similarly licensed. Every contract between a local and a radio station must clearly acknowledge these terms. Before playing canned music the announcer must announce it as such.

For a time it looked as if broadcasters might make their peace. What they could not agree to, however, was the provision touching transmission of music to stations that do not employ musicians. It seemed to the radio people that they ought to be permitted to broadcast wherever and to whomever they pleased, that it was the musicians' job to get small stations to hire more men. Joseph Weber, knowing full well that they were attacking his most crucial demand, stood up bravely, sent many a radio representative home to sleepless nights. Because musicians are as tightly organized as any labor group in the country,* Weber's threat of a walk-out all over the U. S. was no idle boast. Radio officials asked for, and got, two additional weeks to deliberate. As the deadline drew close, promises of strike support from locals as far away as San Francisco flooded his office.

*Only important group of non-union musicians is the Boston Symphony, under Sergei Koussevitzky.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.