Broadening The Perspective On Equal Pay For Equal Work

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When we started examining the topic of equal pay for equal work as applied to substitute orchestra musicians, otherwise known as parity, we compared the parity rate at US and Canadian orchestras in an article from 2/26/2014. At that time, just over two thirds of Canadian symphonic orchestras maintained parity, which was twice the rate of US ensembles. Unfortunately, I left out one important variable in that examination, the only professional …

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Labor Unrest Continues To Impact Retention

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There’s a fascinating article in the 1/22/2015 edition of ArtsATL.com by Mark Gresham featuring an interview with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s (CSO) new Principal Bassoon, Keith Buncke. Prior to winning the CSO audition, Buncke served in the same position with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) and when asked about that organization’s recent lockout and history of labor unrest as reason for seeking work elsewhere, Buncke had some intriguing replies. Buncke handled …

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Talking Equal Pay For Equal Work And The MN Substitute Disparity With Robert Levine On SoundNotion.TV

On 1/19/2015, Robert Levine and I discussed the implications of the 2014 Minnesota Orchestra collective bargaining agreement (CBA) provision that established a substitute musician per service rate at 90% of their full-time colleagues. The equal pay for equal work oriented discussion was streamed live on SoundNotion.TV at 10:00am ET and moderated by SN’s David MacDonald and Sam Merciers. I am grateful to both MacDonald and Merciers for not only taking the …

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For MN Substitute Pay Disparity, No News Isn’t Good News

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Following up on the One Year Later, Minnesota Orchestra Pay Disparity Continues To Elicit Strong Opinions article from 1/5/2015, I contacted both representatives from the Musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra (MOMA) along with Local 30-73, American Federation of Musicians (AFM), the regional office that represents the MN Orchestra musicians, to inquire whether or not there have been any efforts from either group to help alleviate or marginalize the impact of the disparity, …

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One Year Later, Minnesota Orchestra Pay Disparity Continues To Elicit Strong Opinions

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The Best And Worst Of 2014 article from 12/31/2014 generated a great deal of reader response on the item related to the Minnesota Orchestra Pay Disparity and given that it is nearly one year since this issue transpired, it is high time to revisit the issue and see what may have transpired. For those unaware or those who may be fuzzy on the details, here are the highlights: The agreement which …

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