years ago I was a union member when I was playing trumpet for club gigs back in the 60s. It was not very effective then. Now I am not nor are any of the folks I know.

This was just a gig that I got peeved about, not any thing that really makes that much difference in the big picture. In fact Now I can stop worrying about a sound system for outdoors! Thanks for the advice everyone. I will try to be a bit more on top of things, but in this case, I don't know how much more I could have done.