In the wake of Monday’s post about the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO) negotiations, additional details regarding management’s initial offer have surfaced by way of a comment thread initiated by a SPCO musician negotiating committee member. According to that information, the SPCO was looking for concessions beyond reductions in weeks.
The musician representative, SPCO violinist Leslie Shank, stated management’s intent is to produce a contract that secures $1.5 million in reductions from musician related expenses and to date, they have not moved from that figure during bargaining sessions. This corresponds with details reported in the 6/11/2012 Minneapolis Star Tribune article which quotes SPCO board chair and interim president, Dobson West, saying that although the board anticipates presenting a revised proposal, the zero-sum goal remains unchanged.
In addition to the proposed cuts in weeks and compensation, Shank maintains that the SPCO was looking for a number of non monetary concessions, some of which were the root of angst in the protracted Detroit Symphony labor dispute.
- Removing tenure.
- Securing the authority to dismiss a musician for any reason without a peer review process.
- Instituting a $500 fine for being late to rehearsals.
- Securing the authority to discipline musicians for multiple dress code violations.
The final point is one that is not unusual at most professional orchestras but perhaps unsurprisingly, the real hot button issues center on tenure and dismissal.
Also worth noting in Shank’s comments is the claim that the details surrounding management’s initial offer were leaked as a result of insecure communication methods.
The SPCO management has been putting out negotiations updates to the board and musicians, not password protected. This was leaked to the Star-Trib, and that was their source for most of the information in [the article from 6/11/212].
I contacted the SPCO for a formal response but at the time this article was published, they have yet to reply. When and/or if they do, this article will be updated to incorporate any additional information.
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It’s usually a good idea to implement a binding press blackout before anyone starts a negotiation. This stuff doesn’t help anyone.
It’s even more unusual here in the the MO and SPCO typically keep negotiations under wraps until a settlement is reached.
While I can’t speak for MO, the SPCO is known for it’s collaborative model, and therefore, the notion of discussing a blackout was not part of that thinking. I think to have a truly collaborate model, there needs to be trust. It is hard to imagine why our management didn’t have a password for their information website, and hard to imagine why anyone would want to leak it to the press.
It’s good to hear from Leslie. Even though I know the big issue is compensation, I wonder about the need to discipline professionals on dress code violations and late to rehearsals.
Why can’t people show up on time and correctly dressed? It wouldn’t be tolerated at a restaurant. My brother has fired waitstaff on the spot for wearing a dirty shirt.
Mary;
You are completely missing the point on this. The only issue is money and compensation. I think that it has nothing to do with orchestra members actually showing up late or not properly dressed for concerts. You are automatically assuming that since these are now inserted into the proposed contract that the management wants it because there must have been problems in the past relating to these issues. These are diversionary negotiating tactics now being used by orchestra managements all over the country.
What happens is that the management floods the proposed contract with so many odious and insulting components to the musicians that they (management) then have more negotiating options to remove so that they can keep the real thing they (management) are after and that is major pay cuts. These insulting components give the management a chance to pull back on those because they know that the musicians will be very offended and threatened by their insertion into the possible contract. They think that the musicians will be glad to take the pay cut to save tenure, and prevent other penalties such as dress code fines (which would rarely ever be used in any professional orchestra).
Do not be fooled. My belief is that these have nothing to do with actual problems within the organization, but they do have everything to do with the real goal which is to get the musicians to agree to deep pay cuts.
This is an interesting PR approach. Now the public thinks there is a problem with musicians not showing up on time and looking shabby. In my experience any behaviors like this are dealt with quickly under rules that are already a part of the CBA.
Furthermore,in an orchestra like the SPCO there is a level of professionalism and pride that prevents issues like these from becoming chronic problems; usually peer pressure is used before it escalates to become a big deal.
But now in the mind of the public it must be a problem. (“these guys are makin’ all this money and they can’t even show up on time?”) A classic case of misdirection to take the focus off the real issues. I suspect that we will be seeing more of this in the months to come….
This sounds very possible. We have not had problems with chronic lateness in the past, or people showing up to work in shabby clothes.
That’s interesting Leslie, then it is curious to know why it’s an issue and how those terms were determined to be reasonable starting points in a proposal. I have sent a few requests for information to the SPCO but have yet to receive a reply.
Save Our SPCO announced today that they have formed a committee to explore the feasibility of forming a new orchestra if the negotiations break down and the season is canceled entirely. Two MN lawmakers have joined the exploratory committee. For details from today’s press conference, visit the blog: sospco.org, or facebook.com/SaveOurSPCO.