GFTU BGCM 2019 Minutes

worked with for a very long time so closely, as we do. We are in very regular

weekly contact and it has been 16 years working with John. One of the many

things that John did for the Musicians’ Union was to make sure that they published their history and the union goes back to the 14 th century. It was not

called the Musicians’ Union then, it was called the Society of Minstrels, which I

think is a great name, and one of the first things they did when they joined the

GFTU 100 years ago was a campaign to save the orchestras in the theatres

against the devilish incursion of the talking movies which was putting musicians

out of work. So there is a long history there and John has been an absolutely

brilliant bearer of that history and forward thinking for the future.

I have no need to get too emotional this year, because John has kindly agreed

to stay on as a hotel director, so I can continue having the pleasure of

continuing to work with him. On a number of occasions I have tried to point out

some of the financial difficulties in the GFTU to John and suggest that maybe

he donates his Air Miles to us, because if he did we would not have any

financial difficulties whatsoever! Among many other things that he has done,

he is currently still the President of the International Federation of Musicians

and his travels supporting the development of new musicians’ unions in

Eastern Europe, in Africa, in supporting well-established musicians’ unions in

global action to defend their members is absolutely staggering and, despite his

intergalactic travels, he has never had any difficulty being anything other than

efficient and on point all the time for the GFTU.

Just think about the music industry globally and the fact that you are dealing

with these giants that reproduce music across the globe – Spotify, Netflix and

all of the others that publish music – and imagine having to negotiate with them

to ensure that every time there is a download or a stream through Spotify or

Netflix members do get the benefit and are not ripped off by those intergalactic

companies. John has amazing talents on the international sphere and is

always there for musicians throughout the world and he has led ourselves and

he continues to lead the International Federation in a relaxed but very

determined manner. Thanks a lot, John. (Applause)

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