How Low Can They Go In Louisville

Not that it should come as any surprise but the labor dispute between the Louisville Orchestra (LO) and its musicians sunk to a new all-time low following the facilitated labor agreement negotiations. Here’s what transpired over the past few days.

So that’s where things are and now that the press blackout is lifted, both sides didn’t waste much time getting back to banging the drums of labor war. In an article from 10/4/2011 at WFPL.com, Gabe Bullard reported that LO CEO, Robert Birman, has once again alluded that the organization will consider hiring replacement musicians to perform under a non-union work agreement even though the orchestra remains on the American Federation of Musician’s (AFM) Unfair List.

In the same report, Birman says “Chapter 7 [liquidation bankruptcy] is not being considered.” However, LO media relations manager, Heather O’Mara, was quoted in the 10/4/2011 edition of the Louisville Business Journal saying that in addition to options mentioned by Birman, the organization is considering “filing for liquidation under Chapter 7 of the U.s. Bankruptcy Code.”

LO musician spokesperson and musicians’ committee chair Kim Tichenor was quoted in the WFPL.com article saying she thought “this is it”, referencing the likelihood of the organization moving forward. Tichenor was also quoted saying that the musicians have not been making any plans to begin a new organization in the wake of a liquidation.

The 10/4/2011 edition of the Louisville Courier-Journal provides some additional in an article by Elizabeth Kramer with regard to some of the details in the rejected offer as well as the musician counter proposal but at this juncture, the details are of varying consequence.

[sws_box_with_close box_size=”655″ close_button=”sws_red_circle_close” color_box=”sws_yellow_box” rounded_corners=”5″]Be forewarned, professional opinion and commentary abounds from
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It seems clear that both sides are holding firm to what they believe is the best course of action, regardless of how much those positions are motivated by stereotypical political agendas and/or poor decision making. What we’re witnessing is another installment of unnecessarily prolonged disputes that would be better served by jumping ahead to what is likely the best solution: Chapter 7.

That’s precisely what unfolded in Honolulu and it’s growing increasing clear that the only individuals benefiting from the dispute are the consultants who are taking home twenty large for nothing more than counter productive life support. And speaking strictly as a consultant who also works with these sorts of situations, I would have been happy to show up and “mediate” the situation for a fraction of the price knowing full well it wasn’t going to produce very much in the [sws_css_tooltip position=”center” colorscheme=”rosewood” width=”300″ url=”” trigger=”first place” fontSize=”12″]As an aside, there’s a moral here somewhere in this mess about ethical practices worth exploring at some point in the future. [/sws_css_tooltip].

Even if either side caves in this dispute, it won’t really fix any of the problems. They’ve passed traditional FUBAR thresholds and my professional advice to stakeholders is this:

Sure, all of that is pretty dark and one big downer; but unless there’s some radical change in store, it’s the most likely outcome from the current mess. Neither side has displayed any real vision or leadership, which only reinforces the notion that having either side cave only prolongs the dysfunction.

Certainly, a new orchestra could rise from the ashes of this conflagration to one day maximize the community’s true potential; but even in the best of situations that still takes time, plus we have to wait for the blaze to burn itself out before it can be considered. Meanwhile, the phrase “burn baby, burn” comes to mind.