We Still Have More In Common Than Not

It never hurts to brush up on labor relations which is why I wanted to point over to a post here from 3/22/2012 titled “What The Other Side Gets Right.” The article is the result of research for a conference panel discussion that involved inviting a cross section of managers, board members, and musicians to answer one of two straightforward questions:

1. Orchestra musicians were asked “What do you think Boards/Managers get right?”
2. Board members and managers were asked “What do you think Musicians’ Unions get right?”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, some individuals declined to participate due to high levels of animosity toward their fellow stakeholders. But the majority accepted the challenge and found the exercise to be enlightening.

To this day, I revisit those responses and interview notes whenever I’m feeling particularly dark about labor relations. In many instances, the rationale behind answers serves as an uplifting confidence boost in the real potential for positive labor relations along with underscoring that good relationships rely equally on people and process.

Unfortunately, the original conference panel session ended up having (more than) a few additional panelists stuffed into the already healthy mix and my portion, as closing panelist, ended up with the short end of the stick receiving all of 390 seconds.

All the stakeholders who participated in the survey continue to have my gratitude and the work has turned out to be one of those rare instances where the content is just as relevant now as it was five years prior.