Drew McManus on the orchestra business.
There’s no shortage of labor drama right now and the latest group to teeter on the brink of a work stoppage is the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO). With their most recent master agreement expired as of 7/31/2015, stakeholders have adopted a play and talk approach but things appear to be coming to a head as a result of the employer declaring an impasse and issuing a last, best, and final …
Although specific details about the terms of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra’s (HSO) new four-year collective bargaining agreement (CBA) are as of yet unavailable, we do know that the agreement contains similar financial terms, if not identical, to previous proposals, which called for a forty percent reduction in musician expenses. According to a message from the musicians on their Facebook page, the annual compensation via the highest paid tier of musicians won’t …
UPDATE: as of this morning (1/19/16), it appears that the musicians have conceded and accepted the final offer. We’ll explore available details and the decision’s impact in tomorrow’s post. By the time this article is published, the Monday, 1/18/16 evening deadline imposed by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (HSO) board will have passed and we may have some news on whether or not the musicians accepted or rejected the employer’s last, best, …
Musicians of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (HSO) rejected the latest proposal from their employer. Held on Thursday, 1/7/16, the vote was unanimous among musicians attending and although both sides are continuing to bargain via Federal mediator, they continue to be far apart on key terms of wages, length of season, and a new element introduced by the employer in the form of a sweeping cancellation clause. According to a press statement distributed …
In Part 1, we examined the additional information provided by the Hartford Symphony Orchestra (HSO) in response to their 12/19/2015 statement saying that the orchestra’s board is considering shutting down operations at the end of January, 2016 if they are unable to reach an agreement on a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with their musicians. Along with determining where the HSO’s shutdown threat falls within potential options, today’s post will dive …