NPM does have guidelines

http://www.npm.org/Sections/images/DMMDSalaryGuidelines.pdf

Thanks, Noel -
So, then, the FTC is fundamentally opposed to ethical behavior amongst church music professionals!

The Federal Trade Commission is an agency charged with (among other things) enforcing laws about anti-competitive business practices. Somehow they were under the impression that AGO's salary guide meant that organists were colluding to set salaries. Well, actually I suppose they were, but since few organists followed the guide and refused to take low-paying jobs, the FTC should have recognized the collusion as ineffective, and left things alone. But it's much easier to bully a little non-profit association than to fight the anti-competitive practices of big companies who have money and lawyers.

I don't think those salary guidelines were taken very seriously, to begin with. Perhaps in very large urban areas, but not in smaller cities. The salaries here are, for the most part, not even close to those guidelines.

Jared, they went after MTNA first and evidently the AGO was next in the crosshairs. It's awful, but if anyone needs them, I have all the scales from 2012-2015 saved and can send them.

I am in a similar situation (financially and familially) as you likewise was a little upset when this all went down. Of all administrations to do this, you'd think the current rather progressive one would not be pushing this.

Unions, of course, are protected by law, so none of this affects them, also possibly showing some behind-the-scenes machinations in my mind.

AGO even dropped arbitration a few years ago, perhaps to avoid FTC scrutiny, so I was surprised at all this.

Because we know how deeply oppressed America is by overpaid, uncompetitive organists.

Given my experience of bureaucracies (on the securities side of things), my hunch is that the FTC was nudged by extrinsic factors into exploring this area. That is to say, a bureaucracy that is being opposed by big players often finds itself having to demonstrate its even-handedness in a variety of ways that hurt small fry.

The PDF page 5 and page 6 are incorrectly ordered.
Read page 6 then page 5.

Bumping this thread - just saw the official FTC posting at PrayTell Blog:

https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/press-releases/2017/03/american-guild-organists-agrees-eliminate-rules-restrict

I wonder, is there any good response to this nonsense? In order for positions to be advertised, and for pastor and musician to have good conversations and make good decisions, there must be a basic level of shared information. I'm not sure how to go about gathering that info. I suspect that these days, there is an app which would generate a questionnaire and tabulate all the results. But I'm not tech-savvy...

Cross-posting my comment from PTB:

The whole “issue” never made sense to me, since everything put out by the AGO was simply a suggestion – it was never binding on employers or employees in any way, as Alan noted. It seems bizarre to me that an organization cannot even suggest a salary range for professionals with a certain skill set.

The FTC also apparently does not understand that it’s up to the church who gets to be in the loft (church property) and play on the organ (expensive, breakable property of the church). All the language of “increasing competition” is FTC bureaucratic speak that actually changes nothing (aside from muzzling the AGO). Churches are still free to make whatever provisions they want on this issue.

Aside from the bizarre nature of this whole prosecution and ruling, I am sad to see the AGO salary scale disappear (and by association the NPM scale). Church music is not a “mainstream” profession, and it has always been very helpful in my jobs to at least have some kind of national-level suggestions to help start the salary conversation. I wonder – is anyone allowed to set up a similar scale, as long as they are not a dues-based organization? What would be very helpful is some intensive research into salaries, which could establish, if not suggestions, simply averages cross-referenced by region, hours per week, level of education, and experience. The research could all be confidential, but at least you would end up with an accurate picture of what is currently being paid. In fact, such information might be more helpful and practical than salary suggestions anyway. BUT – that would be a lot of work. Who would do something like that? Without any suggestions or information, my worry is that church music will revert to pastors and musicians pulling numbers out of thin air. There is no way to even frame the salary conversation properly without any information or national suggestions…

A sorry waste of time and taxes. This will change nothing in practice, since, as JaredOstermann notes, this only affects the AGO; churches are still free to make whatever provisions they want on this issue.

I rather suspect that the only 'competition' that is limited or confined by a (mere!) salary recommendation is that of those who will play for free or for a pittance. These folk (and their chincy parishes) are the beneficiaries of this ruling which removes from them even a shadow of justice to bother their paltry consciences.

Some dioceses also publish pay guidelines.

Part of that is a legacy of the common law system, where unions were viewed as conspiracies or combinations in restraint of trade or similarly. So the statutes permitting them are in a sense carve-outs.

The government simply has no buisness running non profit groups like the AGO.

Agreed. I have also said for some years that the government has no business funding private organizations with taxpayer money - Planned Parenthood being a prime example. There are others. If they are "private" they should be raising their own funds, which AGO does admirably.