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Musicians Unite: Conferences, Advocacy and Resistance in Cleveland

AFM Local 4

 

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Len DiCosimo

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AFM Local 4 Cleveland 

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Len DiCosimo, President of the American Federation of Musicians Local 4, discussed upcoming music industry conferences in Cleveland, the impact of political decisions on the arts and a new musician-led protest movement.

The 2025 Midwestern Conference of AFM Locals will be held in July and will bring together music unions from 12 states to address issues like electronic media royalties, education programs and political action. DiCosimo emphasized the conference's focus on the Trump administration's impact on fine arts and strategies for Local Unions to engage with state and central labor councils. He added that the gathering will also showcase Local 4's efforts to organize the Cleveland Institute of Music.

In August, Cleveland will host the 2025 International Conference of Symphonic Musicians and Theater Musicians Associations. This event represents over 50 orchestras and 4,000 symphonic musicians, including the Cleveland Orchestra, a charter member since the organization's founding in 1962. DiCosimo noted the importance of addressing the varying employment structures within the symphonic industry, as only about 18 of the represented orchestras offer full-time, 52-week contracts.

Finally, DiCosimo discussed Musicians Against Dictators (MAD), a new grassroots movement in Cleveland that unites musicians from various ensembles to protest and educate the community. The group's inaugural event in Lincoln Park featured 40 musicians, regional choirs and a performance of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" with new lyrics by Poet Laureate Alex Bevan. DiCosimo described MAD as a necessary form of "good trouble" in response to current political challenges, with plans to participate in upcoming "No Kings" rallies.

Listen to the full episode to hear more from DiCosimo in response to political challenges and upcoming events in Cleveland.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

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