Most musicians, whether they’re already in the union or still working toward it, are leaving benefits on the table they don’t even know exist. Pension credits. Health insurance. Legal protections. A collective bargaining agreement that was negotiated on your behalf before you ever walked into a pit.
Not because the information is hidden. Because nobody told them to go look.
I spent years inside this industry before I understood what my membership actually meant. What I had earned. What I had access to. What I had already been leaving alone.
That realization came slowly. And expensively.
I wrote about it for Allegro, Local 802’s publication.
It’s short. It’s direct. If you’ve never looked closely at your pension credits, your health insurance status, or the collective bargaining agreement that covers every union gig you’ve ever played — that’s exactly where you should start.
Read it here →
“What Nobody Tells You About the Union”