| The local here in Minneapolis/St. Paul is not very strong anymore. But they know there is very little freelance work. And we all are scraping for anything we can get. But being in the union does give me that extra leverage in negotiating prices. I have one additional positive and one negative about this local. The positive is that they offer an insurance policy for my horns and equipment that has very reasonable premiums for full replacement coverage. The one negative is that they no longer offer a health insurance plan we can buy into. So consequently I had to get a "day job" outside of music to get full health insurance coverage.
I will stay in the union, no matter what city I live in, for as long as I play professionally.
Mike |