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Since it's AGMA referendum day, it's as good a day as any to get on my favorite soapbox: AGMA is terrible. Pull up a chair! 
First, to acknowledge the obvious: AGMA does nothing for soloists. The work rules it guarantees are industry standard at every non-AGMA house I've ever sung for, and it doesn't provide any other sizable benefit, while charging pretty significant dues. 2/9
While other unions subsidize or provide free health insurance for people, especially people who pay a lot of dues, AGMA goes a different way: they haven't even bothered to set up a group plan for soloists (not full-time at any single house) to just pay for our own healthcare. 3/9
One of my favorite moments of the pandemic was when AGMA had the audacity to send me an email saying that a house I'd worked at was being reckless by denying people health insurance during a pandemic. This was funny because AGMA had never cared about my healthcare before. 4/9
I've been lucky enough to sing in a lot of cool places, pre-COVID, and I paid thousands a year in AGMA dues. But because AGMA couldn't be bothered to set up a group plan, and the NY exchange doesn't offer plans that cover me when I travel, WHICH IS MY WHOLE JOB, I'm uninsured. 5/
The referenda don't fix that. But one offers this fun devil's bargain: we can either keep the initiation fee, which is abusive to young artists, or raise dues, which would force soloists to pay more for nothing, during a period with no income. 6/9
But we're supporting chorus and stage management by supporting AGMA, right? This must be good for the world, yes? You'd think that, but nope, with everything from the PlĂ cido settlement to the office space purchase, AGMA pretty much seems like a boondoggle for its leadership. 7/9
Another of the referenda, the one that's getting the most attention, is super-fun! This one further disenfranchises soloists by barring proxy voting, so if you're--let's just say--working in another time zone, which is, again, our whole job, it's more challenging to vote. 8/9
So yeah. AGMA is terrible. I'll close with a gif.
