HEARING ON H.R. 226, THE LIVE PERFORMING ARTISTS LABOR RELATIONS ACT WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 1993 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON LABOR-MANAGEMENT RELATIONS, Washington, DC. The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:15 a.m., Room 2261, Rayburn House Office Building, Hon. Pat Williams, Chairman, presiding. Members present: Representatives Williams, Kildee, Becerra, Romero-Barcelo, Roukema and Ballenger. Staff present: Fred Feinstein, chief counsel; Gail Brown-Hubb, staff assistant; Ed Gilroy, professional staff member; and Tim Butler, staff assistant. Chairman WILLIAMS. Call today's hearing of the Subcommittee on Labor-Management Relations to order. Today's hearing brings together two subjects about which I have had a longstanding concern, having led the debate about arts and humanities policy as well as labor policy. Today's hearing is an important one for me personally with regard to this cross-section of interests. The legislation we are considering, H.R. 226, would extend to live performing artists labor protection similar to those enjoyed by other employees in this country. A key question is does the legislation reflect an appropriate balance between the rights of employees, the needs of employers, and the interests of those who enjoy live entertainment. People, I suspect, don't often think of performers as employees, but, clearly, many of the performers we hear and see, not just the big names, but those who play toward the back in orchestras, those who are backup musicians in studios, all have to make a living from their performance, and if they cannot support themselves and their families through performing, then they are not able to continue and then the American public is deprived of the pleasure of their art. Clearly, the ability of performing artists, then, affects the availability of live entertainment and critical enjoyment for the American people and the people of the world. I must confess at the outset that the debate about this bill has been puzzling to me at times. I have listened to both proponents of it and the opponents of it and have become convinced that they are talking about two separate bills. I can't believe it is the same legislation. I have paid a lot of attention to what the opponents of it have been saying because many of them are my constituents. I must say after reading the bill and talking with counsel, I would oppose the bill if it did what the opponents say it does. If they are right, I am going to vote against this bill, but I can't find the effects they say this bill will have in the bill. So I am going to pay particular attention to those who say that this bill will, in fact, not be in the best interest of either the public, the audiences or the live performers themselves. But I have to be convinced, because I don't see what they are telling me this bill does in this bill, to be frank with you. If there is a true misunderstanding about either the intent or the effect of the legislation, then I am hopeful that today's hearing will help shed more light on those misunderstandings. Mr. Ballenger, an opening statement? Mr. BALLENGER. Mr. Chairman, I don't have a formal opening statement, but I would like to say that I have a son-in-law who plays, I guess you call him a rock drummer in a band, and he plays at Key West and all over Florida and up into North Carolina. He switches from one group to another group to another group back to the other group and back and forth the way he does, it would be fascinating to me if somebody could figure out a way to make an organization of musicians. Thanks very much, Mr. Chairman. Chairman WILLIAMS. Well, what you have said will be in the printed record, so I guess it will be published. Whether he will see it or not, I don't know. I have a son who is an artist, and I can associate myself some with what you are saying. Our first witness today is the Hon. Dale Kildee, sponsor of the legislation. Dale is a member of the, as I think you all know, the Education and Labor Committee, also an important and valued member of this subcommittee, and he has chosen to testify from this side. Dale? Glad to hear your bill, appreciate your leadership on it, and look forward to your message. Mr. KILDEE. Thank you, very much, Mr. Chairman. I apologize for being late. I was downstairs Chairing my own committee and ran up here for this testimony. I deeply appreciate your willingness to have this hearing, Mr. Chairman. You know I appreciate that. As the sponsor of this legislation, I want to thank the Chairman of this subcommittee, Mr. Williams, for holding this hearing on the Live Performing Artists Labor Relations Act. You, Pat, have been a long supporter of workers' rights and I appreciate your taking the time to look at the conditions facing live performing artists in our country. Mr. Chairman, for too long, members of the live performing arts industry have been denied the basic labor rights that have been afforded to other industries. It is time we changed this gross inequity in our labor laws. Under current law, live performing artists have been effectively denied the basic right to organization and bargaining collectively for their wages and working conditions. As you well know, Mr. Chairman, the live performing artist industry is very similar to the construction industry, in that both involve employment that is short-term in nature and at varying loca tions. However, in 1959, Congress recognized that construction employees working under these conditions deserved protection and amended the National Labor Relations Act to permit employees and employers in the construction industry to enter into prehire agreements. Unfortunately, live performing artists do not enjoy these same protections. I strongly believe live performing artists deserve to have the same labor rights as other employees whose work is temporal in nature. That is why I have introduced this legislation. Quite simply, this bill would allow live performing artists to organize and collectively bargain with the purchasers of their music and their talent. Mr. Chairman, as you are well aware, I represent the largest number of automobile workers in the Nation. My own father was a member of the UAW. He had to work hard and suffer much in order to become a member and to get the full protections of the NLRB. The employer did not want to grant him those full protections. As a matter of fact, and you have heard me say this many times, my father had to wear his button under the collar, when I was about 6 years old, because the largest corporation in the world would have fired him had they seen his union button. But the quality of life in the Kildee family improved immensely after my father had full bargaining rights. My mother is 93 years old and one of her heroes to this day is John L. Lewis, because she knows how her life and the life of the five children she was raising, along with my father, improved because of the full protection of the NLRB that they finally achieved. I fully believe, Mr. Chairman, that allowing live performing artists the same right to bargain collectively would improve the quality of life for these workers. Perhaps years from now people will look back and say that we did do something to help build a more just society. At this time, Mr. Chairman, I would like to ask unanimous consent to enter into the record a statement by Doc Severinsen, former band leader for the Tonight Show, whom we are all familiar with. He supports this bill and I would like to have that entered in the record. Chairman WILLIAMS. Without objection. [The information referred to follows:] STATEMENT OF DOC SEVERINSEN I am offering this fax as an indication of my approval and support of the Live Performing Artists Labor Relations Act, which is pending before Congress. I wish you, and as a result, all of us musicians the very best of good fortune in the approval of this important piece of legislation. Mr. KILDEE. I would also like to enter in the record the statement of Mr. Ned Guthrie, President Emeritus of the Appalachian Regional Musicians Union, and a long-time advocate of this legislation. Mr. Guthrie has been persistent in seeing this legislation get passed. I can recall when I was 5 or 6 years old walking the streets of the east side of Flint trying to sign up people for the UAW, because had we walked the aisles of the Buick Motor Plant doing that, they would have been fired. That persistence paid off because he signed up about 40 percent of the people on our street. That is how they signed them up. I remember that gentleman walking up and down. Persistence paid off. And while that person's name really is unknown to me now, and his picture does not hang in my office, his place, I think, in public morality, is the same as that of John L. Lewis, and, indeed, I would be happy to have a picture of Mr. Guthrie hanging in my office because of what he has done for labor and for justice in this country. And I would like to have his statement entered into the record at this point, Mr. Chairman. Chairman WILLIAMS. Without objection. [The prepared statement of Mr. Guthrie follows:] |