Colorado Springs Finally Has A Deal

All it took was more than a year and some of the pandemic-era labor dispute PR for the Colorado Springs Philharmonic’s executive leadership to end up pretty much right where could have landed a few short months into their dispute.

If you aren’t already familiar with the details, things became ugly following the employer’s decision to cancel the union agreement. Since then, the musicians offered sizeable financial and work rules concessions, just like the vast majority of their peers across the country, with the goal of mitigating pandemic woes.

For more than a year, the employer rebuffed those offers and dug in on their desire to eliminate the collective bargaining agreement entirely. The only other professional US orchestra that attempted to eliminate a union agreement was the Louisville Orchestra in 2011.

It did not end well for that organization.

Moving forward, the new three-year agreement incorporates many of the concessions musicians initially offered with annual improvements. While the musicians characterize the final year of the agreement as getting them “back to normal,” I reached out to CSPO bass trombonist and Chair of the Players Committee, Jeremy Van Hoy, to learn more.

With the 3 year agreement, it breaks down like this:

• 59 (or 60) service guarantee in Year 1
• 74 service guarantee in Year 2
• 100/80 service guarantee in Year 3

So, Year 3 is our “normal” based on the previous contract. Per-service rates are deferred a year, but essentially pick up where we left off.

Where those per-service rates fall exactly is something that will become known once additional details are released.