I had hoped it wouldn't come to this but I don't know what to do. I contacted my union but certain union politics are likely to prevent any action from them. I play four gigs for a jazz band, was supposed to be paid $150 per gig, the first gig was last October, I still havent been paid a cent. There is a jazz combo that has also not been paid, and the jazz director (who is my former teacher and friend) has also not been paid. He is trying to work things out with the administration but I am sick of being treated like a piece of dog shit. I played four gigs, I played the shit out of them (except the last one because fuck this), I practiced more than I had to, I played solos that stole the show and now I haven't been paid a cent. I don't know what to do...
Apr 7 2014 16:06
Apr 7 2014 18:48
Im on the east coast (I feel very hesitant to say exactly where I am although I'm sure it doesn't really matter). I remember someone I went to school who I talked to ages ago said he was talking to people in the IWW in the area and I contacted him to see if they can help me. My guess is that if there was a phone blast of these people they would give in in one day, I really don't know if that's the best course of action though, and I also don't want to get my director in trouble.
Apr 8 2014 03:29
Is the director a boss? Because if so, as much as a friend as they might be, if they're failing to get you paid, they're failing to even hold up capitalist notions of justice. Further, if you honestly think it would be pretty straight forward to pressure them into giving in, try indeed to reach out to any local Wobblies, or Solidarity Network people. I'm in Florida, and if you'd like, you can PM me with more details as to your location and I can put you in contact with people I might know who could help.
If you can work out some straightforward escalation campaign to get yourself and your fellow musicians paid, it'd be great.
Apr 9 2014 02:56
Hey thx to pennoid and everyone who messaged me. I talked to some musicians I play with and one of them suggested I take it to small claims court, just minutes after threatening to do this I received an email saying that the issue is going to be resolved very quickly haha. Hopefully this is all it took and il keep yall updated
Apr 9 2014 08:23
Hope it works, Soapy. Although def keep us informed if it doesn't - there's probably a decent enough experience with this sort of thing on libcom/anarchist community in general that there's a lot of folks who could help you plan a campaign.
Apr 9 2014 12:52
So I got an angry email today basically saying, "how dare you complain bla bla bla" followed by "the check will be sent by the end of the week" so hopefully that about does it lol
Apr 9 2014 14:17
Threatening a lawsuit is about all it takes, which is a funny kind of direct action in the form of a threat of indirect action.
Apr 9 2014 15:00
I guess maybe what can be taken away from this is that the best thing to do is to talk to a lot of people about the situation you're in and maybe one of them will know the best way to approach it.
Where are you at? U.S. ? Near a Solnet?