Union for Sale
by Agent X
Special to UnionMuse
It is official. Local 4 is selling its headquarters.
The union is currently taking offers on their 6000+ square foot property
located at the corner of Carnegie Avenue and East 22nd Street. The
asking price is $645,000.
Members of the Cleveland Orchestra are reported
to be annoyed, to say the least, as the building is the main asset
of the Local, and it's the only thing orchestra members have to show
for their rather substantial dues payments. For some reason they think
they own a piece of it.
Parties interested in acquiring this small
part of Cleveland Labor’s achievement should contact The Dalad
Group.
The Dalad Group is one of Northeast Ohio’s
larger management firms and controls a large portion of the properties
along the I-77 and Rockside Road Interchange, including the “Rockside
Corners” shopping center. Many of you may be familiar with Rockside
Corners as the location of several fine restaurants and clubs, including,
Aladdin’s (understood to be a favorite of Cleveland’s
occasionally employed pit musicians), the Winking Lizard, and a cozy
wine bar called “Budapest Blonde.” Budapest Blonde is
a wonderful place offering wine by the bottle or by the glass, specialty
martinis, LIVE music every Thursday and Saturday evening (emphasis
theirs,) and scintillating conversation with club owners Leonard DiCosimo
and Ilona Simon.
If you find yourself saying “these names
sound vaguely familiar,” you might also know of club owner,
Leonard DiCosimo, as the President of Local 4, and his partner, Ilona
Simon, as the mother of Local 4’s “Associate” Vera
Durejko. Yes indeed, the real estate agency that is listing Local
4’s Headquarters also happens to be the landlord for Leonard's
club. Now this does cause us to ponder things. But put it all aside,
though, because Budapest Blond advertises itself as a club that has
LIVE music. We’re always happy to see musicians working steady
in clubs.
Wait…does this mean that the President
of Local 4 is also a club owner who employs local musicians in Local
4’s jurisdiction?
UnionMuse thanks our correspondent, and suggests you stay tuned.
We will be back to comment on the above and how it relates to the
whole Local 4/Leonard DiCosimo story.
For now, these observations:
Wait…does this mean that the President
of Local 4 is also a club owner who employs local musicians in Local
4’s jurisdiction?
Well now, Agent X, that would depend on what the definition of "who
the employer is" is.
Under Labor Law (q.v., if you've got a reference book on the subject),
a person, whether club owner or the Mother of the Bride (MOTB), engaging
a band (for example) to entertain guests, simply has purchased the
entertainment. The band leader, in most cases, would be recognized
as the employer, under the law.
But under American Federation of Musicians Official Fantasy #358b,
the employer would be the MOTB or the club owner, in which case, DiCosimo
is in violation of several bylaws, at least, pertaining to officer
conflict of interest. This would tend to make it very difficult for
the AFM to mis-spend member money (yet again) on its very personable
and extremely capable, but terribly expensive, attorneys (Hi, Trish.)
in order to defend Local 4 and DiCosimo in what is fast becoming a
very complex affair.
Of course, there's lots more, but actual employment (via an actual
employer, not an MOTB or an icky club owner) is consuming much of
our time, alas, just in time for the Local 4 multiple Federal Law and AFM Bylaw violations festival.
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