The media meeting of imu was held.
August 9, 2020 1:03 PM in Press Archive.
The media meeting of imu was held
Take unions seriously
According to the public relations report of imu, on the morning of Tuesday, August 14th, the press conference of the union was held with the presence of Mr. Mohammad Atyabi (Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association) and Ali Mahgei (spokesman of the union) with the presence of all the music journalists of Iranian news agencies, in compliance with all principles and Health protocols were held in Arasbaran Cultural Center in Tehran.
Ali Maghazei, the spokesperson of imu, first started the program by congratulating the journalists present at the meeting and the journalism and media community and expressing gratitude to the journalists and media, who are the link between the people, trade unions and artistic organizations, and government organizations.
Referring to the membership of the union to the laws of the International Labor Organization and the union’s membership in fim, he presented a report on the activities of this trade union body and said: “This union has been operating for nearly 22 years and we can boldly say that it is one of the oldest trade unions in the field of music in the country, which started its official and legal activity in 1377, one year before the music house and under the official work rules.
The spokesperson of the union added: “In recent years, the union has been able to play an effective role in the field of musicians union affairs, including social insurance coverage and supplementary insurance.
Also, during the days of the spread of the Corona virus, the issue of accepting the per capita insurance contribution by the Art Credit Fund was raised for the first time by imu and followed up until this issue came to fruition. On the other hand, in the last days of 2017, there was a massive protest and follow-up in the media for the tax exemption (10% tax law on the sale of concert tickets) for musicians, which finally came to fruition this year. Also, numerous correspondences were held with various institutions, including the Ministry of Guidance, Broadcasting, Islamic Council, Management and Planning Organization, Ministry of Cooperation, Labor and Social Welfare.
Mr. Maghazei added: “In the new approaches that have been made in the union, it was decided to change the logo of the union and the current affairs will flow in a more coherent structure. In this regard, meetings were also held, including the meeting with the head of the art credit fund, the managing director of imu affiliated to the Ministry of Guidance, the head of guidance in Tehran province, which were very promising.
He further pointed to the activities of trade unions around the world and said: “Everywhere in the world, governments at least support them in providing the place of trade unions, while unfortunately, imu has not done this until today. Someone did it and it was not supported anywhere. Today, one of our concerns is the issue of renting a building to establish and expand the activities of the union, which we are trying to pursue through the Tehran City Council. If this happens, a major part of the expenses of this union will be removed and it can be given to the union affairs of musicians, but unfortunately, until today, this union has not been taken as seriously as it should be and has not been recognized.
Mr. Maghazei added: “Not long ago, there was a question that the houses related to the cultural and artistic activities of the country should become unions. This is despite the fact that in paragraph 3 of article 5 of this regulation it is stated that when a learning trade union is already active in a specialized area, another group cannot continue its work as a “trade union”. Therefore, I ask all the people who have union concerns to join the union if they want to continue the union activity and get the necessary support in this field.”
Mohammad Atiyabi, the chairman of the union, also spoke about the activities of union since 1977 and said: “We are a member of the fim (International Musicicians Federation). “A federation that has only one union under its umbrella in all countries, and I need to remind you that it has international privileges, which I think can be very influential in the activities of musicians in our country in the near future.”
He pointed to the problems of music artists during the outbreak of the Corona virus and said: “We have not received any government aid until today, and it makes us proud that out of a population of more than 4,000 people, about half of the members of the association are on social security insurance and We have also done important things for the supplementary insurance of some of them. Even in these corona days, since three months ago, we have made the membership of the union free for music people, but what we are considering is the discussion of assistance such as allocating a place for the union and even empty music halls that can be provided to the union to Through that follow up on the union and executive issues of the music community.”
Atyabi also pointed to the promoters of imu in the cities and added: “Unfortunately, we were treated with indifference before and lost the representatives we had in the cities, but now in different cities of the provinces such as Lorestan, East Azarbaijan, Mazandaran and Gilan, we have promoters who follow up our union activities in these provinces.
The head of imu, emphasizing the increase of the cooperation of imu with other groups related to music, said: “We have joint plans in the field of cooperation with other groups in the field of music, and for this purpose, we have held meetings with the management of the Iranian Musicians Union, which resulted in those are the support.
In response to a question about the type of confrontation between this trade union and the music house, he said: “We and the music house are not enemies, and even the CEO of this house is a member of imu.” Regarding the music house, fortunately, we have had meetings with the board of directors. Contrary to what is thought, we are in no way an institution in front of the music house, and we only intend to pursue our activities more seriously after many years, and at the same time, to mediate them.”
In the continuation of the meeting, Mr. Maghazei, as the spokesperson of the union, appreciated some of the activities of the Art Credit Fund in supporting music artists, referring to the meeting that he had together with Mohammad Atyabi as the head of the union, with the chairmanship of the credit fund, and added: “We hope that the credit fund In connection with the correspondence and some agreements that have been made between us, he should act with more assistance and speed, but currently we have complaints that some letters and letters of introduction of the aunion are delayed in the fund.”
At the end of the meeting, the chairman expressed hope for more cooperation of government institutions with the union and said: “The union is open to all Iranian music artists, and even in the days of Corona, with the health measures we have taken into account, we answer clients for renewal three days a week. “We are the respected members of the union”
In this connection, the spokesperson of the union said: “In the union, our hand of friendship is always open to artists, members of the media, and activists and managers of the music field, and we hope that we can solve the problems of music artists by interacting with all decision-making bodies.”