Writing Project 3

Sign the Band, Man

This writing project is due Thursday, March 27

In General

This writing project is designed to be a companion work alongside the assigned readings for Labor Law for the Rank-and-filer.

Using aspects of the readings, our class role-play, and the whimsy and wackiness of rock n' roll, it is the task of your band to get a written contract together that "signs" the band to a formal, written contract with your manager.

We have discussed some aspects of employment in our previous class, and now the task is to get those particulars negotiated, or agreed upon, by all members of the band. In essence, your band will be writing a technical document that ensures all band members will know their rights and responsibilities in the development of your professional relationship in this role-play and in the execution of future class assignments and projects.

Therefore, there are two essential components to this writing project:

1. Have a good understanding of your rights as a band member (worker) via reading Labor Law for the Rank-and-filer. In contrast, band managers can use Labor Law as a tool to understand some expectations of an employer or administrator, and then craft contract language and negotiations based on an understanding of potential needs and wants of band members.

and

2. This contract should be sure to spell out (literally) the rights and responsibilities of all band members, including the manager. These rights and responsibilities can be for instances specific to our course role-play such as band health insurance, the band's "recreational opportunities," and/or safety issues related to concert events or life on the road, but should also include aspects of work and assignment completion for this course. As an example this might include: who in the band takes the lead in organizing work schedules (does the manager send out emails to get everyone together, or is this the task of everyone in the band) or who might take the lead in giving presentations to the class. The objective here is to write a contract that combines class role-play scenarios with "real-life" tasks from our class.

Help with the Document

An example of an employment contract can be found here: http://www.legaldocs.com/htsgif.d/xemploy.htm.

Writing Project Specifics and Timeline

In written form for Tuesday, March 25, each band member and the band's manager should work through a rough draft of what they would like to see in a labor contract during class. This is a type of pre-writing exercise that could take the form of an outline, mind-map, or simple rough narrative of what you, as a member of the band, would like to see in a contract. Nothing fancy needs to be completed, but you should come to class with some idea of your rights as a worker (member of the band) or manager, expectations of the other party, and particular ideas of what you would like to see in a contract. 

As a part of this negotiation process on Tuesday, I will be available to arbitrate any problems or sticking points that arise from these labor and contract negotiations. Meaning, I will be happy to help facilitate the working toward compromise between band members and manager that might result from an impasse regarding contract details.

Be sure to consult our class text Labor Law for the Rank-and-filer in this process!

Then, for class on Thursday, March 27, managers should have a final draft ready for band members to sign. These final drafts and your band interactions on Thursday should evidence a working knowledge of our course text, Labor Law for the Rank-and-filer, and some type of investment in the process of coming together as a group to debate/negotiate the terms of individual and group responsibilities to fellow band members and manager. These final contracts should reflect the agreed upon clauses and specifics from the Tuesday, March 25, contract negotiations. Band members should then give a final read over of these contracts, and then if all is agreeable--sign these contracts on Thursday.

Our course text, Labor Law for the Rank-and-filer, should be cited at least one time in your final contract!

Standard writing project particulars are in play: 1" margins, 12 pt Times New Roman font, double-spaced, etc. A works cited page for our book Labor Law is also a writing project necessity. 

These contracts, however, may be longer than 2-3 pages if needed to convey the complex interactions between manager and band members. 

Quick, but important note: these contracts are in no way legally binding, but rather a tool to help simulate our class role-play between band and manager, and possible labor relations scenarios.