Negotiations – Page 24 – Adaptistration

A Fascinating, Yet Misguided, Perspective On The Hartford Dispute

Tuesday, October 13th, 2015 by Drew McManus

Although there hasn’t been very much along the lines of news to report via the ongoing Hartford Symphony Orchestra (HSO) labor dispute, there is one item worth exploring that might shed some insight into why the situation won’t likely improve regardless the outcome. Although we don’t usually examine op-ed posts, there is one from the 9/18/15 edition of the Hartford Courant that merits an exception. This op-ed piece comes from Ronald …

At Least It Isn’t A Work Stoppage

Thursday, October 8th, 2015 by Drew McManus

There’s an intriguing development in the Philadelphia Orchestra negotiations in the form of a six-month consultancy that introduces former John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts CEO Michael Kaiser into the mix…kinda. The Philadelphia Inquirer published an article by Peter Dobrin on 10/6/2015 that reports Kasier will be employed for a period of six months to provide advice for the orchestra’s strategic planning and capitalization campaigns. Setting aside for a …

Florida Orchestra and Milwaukee Symphony Settle

Monday, October 5th, 2015 by Drew McManus

We have two new entries in our list of mid to large budget orchestras with expired agreements that managed to ratify a new contract without resorting to a work stoppage: The Florida Orchestra and Milwaukee Symphony. Florida Orchestra A new three-year agreement begins reversing several rounds of concessionary agreements with annual improvements in base musician wages and number of weeks per season. 2015/16 26-week season (four half weeks at 75% scale) …

Chicago Settles

Thursday, October 1st, 2015 by Drew McManus

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) becomes the latest group from our list of mid to large budget orchestras with expired agreements to reach a settlement. The rumor mill was rife with fodder about a potential showdown over the musicians’ defined benefit pension but when the dust settled, the retirement benefit ended up with an improvement. Terms of the new three-year agreement will be enacted retroactively to 9/13/2015 and includes modest increases …

Dallas Ratifies A Two Year Agreement, Maintains Substitute Parity

Monday, September 28th, 2015 by Drew McManus

The latest group to settle from our list of mid to large budget orchestras with expired agreements is the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO). Their two-year agreement contains three percent increases in base musician wages in each year along with a one-time $750 payment to each musician at the onset of the agreement’s term. And like a number of other professional orchestras, the DSO will launch a joint musician/board/staff task force to …