We Value Your Option (unless it means changing our plans)

Robert Levine, president of the Milwaukee Musicians Association, International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) chairman emeritus, former editor of Senza Sordino (ICSOM’s newsletter), and principal violist of the Milwaukee Symphony [Robert must have an industrial sized business card], posted an intriguing article at his blog about the Jacksonville Symphony negotiations. In his post, Robert compares current events in Jacksonville with his own experiences in Milwaukee when faced with a refusal to move from a pre-set final offer at the onset of negotiations…

Robert provides a history lesson in labor relations to support his points:

Much like our 1993-94 dispute, the fundamental problem here seems to be that management has chosen to “negotiate” in the style of Lemuel Boulware, the legendary labor relations head for GE after WW II. The strategy become known as Boulwarism and, in essence, involved the refusal to move from a pre-set final offer. In the words of the Times:

…the company listened closely to union demands, examined the wages and working conditions of competitors, conducted extensive research on all issues and then put forward a “fair, firm offer,” with nothing held back for future concessions.

…except, of course, that the Jacksonville board seems to have neglected the listening, examination, and research parts.

What’s important to realize here is that final bit. In essence, the bargaining strategy adopted by the Jacksonville Symphony Association (JSA) board denies the musicians any meaningful input on setting the organization’s strategic direction. Instead, it only provides an avenue at the very end of the process to implement the board’s strategy. The following flowchart was constructed based on comments from JSA board members and executive administrators. It illustrates how the JSA designed and implemented their strategic planning process and the outcomes they predicted:

After going over the flowchart, how would you answer the following questions:

• How does this process encourage and expand musical appreciation in the Jacksonville community?
• How does this process encourage the organization to provide musical performances of the highest possible artistic quality?
• How does this process allow the organization to cover the fullest spectrum of orchestra music while bringing enjoyment to as wide and diverse an audience as possible?
• How does this process allow the organization to address the vital need for music education and its role in the quality of life for everybody by providing education programs for all ages?
• How does this process allow the organization to enable the Jacksonville community to utilize music as a means to a more relevant and productive life?
• How does this process provide for the organization to be recognized as a leader in performing arts in the Jacksonville community and the First Coast region?
• How does this process allow the organization to be recognized as the finest orchestra in Florida bringing credit to the First Coast?
• How does this process provide for continued wide reorganization for high artistic quality and to be ranked among the nation’s top 40 orchestras in terms of budget size and population served?
• How does this process encourage and expand musical appreciation in the Jacksonville community?

Hopefully, the JSA board has taken the time to examine these questions since each point is derived faithfully from the organization’s mission statement (as found here, here, and here). How would you answer those questions?

UPDATE 10:57AM CT: According to the Florida Times-Union the Jacksonville musicians will conduct a ratification meeting today to vote on the latest contract proposal.