Negotiations

Although the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS) is now playing an official role in helping both sides in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO)/Woodruff Arts Center (WAC) and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Players Association (ASOPA) labor dispute, it doesn’t appear that it carries any sort of media blackout restrictions. In fact, both sides continued lobbing PR shells at one another since the mediation announcement was released. Observers have been quick to point …

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The 10/4/14 edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC) published an article by Howard Pousner that includes an exclusive interview with Woodruff Arts Center (WAC) Governing Board Chairman Douglas Hertz. The WAC serves as the 501(c)3 under which the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) conducts business; consequently, even though the ASO maintains its own board of directors and executive committee, it does not ratify labor agreements, does not manage its own budget, and …

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Following up on a question from earlier in the week on whether or not Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) interim CEO Terry Neal will be involved with negotiations, evidence has surfaced which confirms he will not be part of the bargaining process. A 9/29/2014 letter from ASO board chair Karole Lloyd made it clear that Neal will only be focusing on the housekeeping roles associated with the CEO’s duties and responsibilities. A …

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On Saturday, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) CEO Stanley Romanstein erroneously announced that the ASO and its locked out musicians had entered federal mediation and by Monday morning, he was no longer the CEO. It is unknown if the mediation gaffe was grounds in and of itself for the shift in executive leadership or if it was part of a larger conflux of events, but what is known is Romanstein resigned from …

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In what has become one of the more confusing turn of events in the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) lockout, the management released a statement on 9/27/14 @ approximately 9:00pm ET announcing that the organization and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Players’ Association (ASOPA) have agreed to federal mediation. The statement was accompanied by a similar notice at the ASO Facebook page but as it turns out, this was news to the musicians. …

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