Negotiations – Page 18 – Adaptistration

Pittsburgh Symphony Cancels More Concerts. Disagreements Over Disagreements Abound.

Tuesday, October 18th, 2016 by Drew McManus

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) recently announced another round of event cancellations through November 18, 2016. Although cancellations are par for the course during a work stoppage, what makes this round of cancellations unusual is they appear to be driven more by brinkmanship than an inability to reach an agreement. Failing to reach an agreement assumes both sides are negotiating but as of now, describing parties as actively bargaining wouldn’t come …

Pittsburgh Symphony Labor Dispute Continues Down A Dark Path

Thursday, October 6th, 2016 by Drew McManus

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) announced that it has cancelled all nine concert events scheduled through 10/27/2016 due to the ongoing musician strike. The decision to cut nearly one month of programming is rarely a good sign when it comes to ending a work stoppage but given how far apart both sides appear to be via their proposed salary terms, none of this should come as a surprise. According to an …

How To Look Like The Smartest Person In The Room When Talking About This Season’s Labor Disputes

Monday, October 3rd, 2016 by Drew McManus

The weekend saw some extraordinary events as the musicians from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) and Philadelphia Orchestra Association (POA) went on strike. Since that news broke on Friday, 9/30/2016 there are no shortages of presumptions floating around so in order to provide a clear frame of reference, let’s examine some of the key points and misnomers. IMPORTANT UPDATE: As of Sunday, 10/2/2016, the Philadelphia Orchestra is no longer on strike. …

Crowdsourcing Labor Disputes

Friday, September 30th, 2016 by Drew McManus

Norman Lebrecht pointed out an interesting development in the ongoing Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) strike in that the musicians recently received a donation from the crowdsource funding platform they’ve been using to raise money. Specifically, GoFundMe.com decided to donate $1,000 to the FWSO musicians’ GoFundMe project, which helped put them over their $25,000 goal. That’s a fascinating human interest story in and of itself but the other intriguing angle is …

What Happens When A Contract Expires?

Monday, September 9th, 2019Thursday, September 22nd, 2016 by Drew McManus

Just because the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) between an orchestra and its musicians expires doesn’t mean the organization necessarily comes to a screeching halt. Although it certainly adds an additional layer of pressure to negotiations, in most cases, the employer continues paying wages and benefits under the terms of the expired agreement until a new agreement is ratified or imposed. And that’s exactly how the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) describes …