Seattle's Musicians Union Cracks Down on a Band Accused of Cutting Rates
A union fine against Lancer & Lueben's bandleader opens a widening fight over underbidding, jealousy and the union scale.
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The Musicians' Union has been having a little internal warfare as the result of a charge that Lancer & Lueben's band has been cutting prices. The charge has been a hard one to prove, but the leader of the band has been fined, and the other members of the band stoutly assert that it is all the result of jealousy and spite work.
The basis for the charge was the information received by members of the other bands from patrons when bidding for jobs, that Lancer & Lueben's band had made a better offer. Of course the exact amount to be paid could not be found out, but the inference was drawn that the bid must necessarily be under the union rates, as the bid it was claimed to be under was based on the union scale.
The matter has not stopped with the fining of the leader, but several of the other members of the band are yet to be tried. They in turn have been gathering information to prove that some of the other bands have been cutting prices, and a lively fight is probable.
“The charge has been a hard one to prove, but the leader of the band has been fined, and the other members of the band stoutly assert that it is all the result of jealousy and spite work.”
The fight over a band that underbid the union scale echoes modern gig-economy arguments about whether cutting rates is fair competition or undermines everyone's wages. The union's willingness to fine and try its own members shows how seriously Seattle's organized trades took the scale.
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