Negotiations

What’s Worse: Launching One Nuke Or All Of Them?

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Last Friday, we took a look at the labor dispute unfolding at the Colorado Springs Philharmonic (CSPhil). In a nutshell, the CSPhil board decided that after declaring impasse during their recent master agreement reopener talks, they would cancel the union agreement entirely. The only other orchestra to do this was the Louisville Orchestra in 2011. Perhaps unsurprisingly, there’s a good bit of unusual back-story in this situation which begins with the …

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Virginia Symphony Furloughs Make San Fran Opera Cuts Look Marginally Attractive

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Hopefully, the Virginia Symphony Orchestra (VSO) will have an opportunity to relive what would have been their 100th anniversary because as of now, they have cancelled all concert activity through February 2021. While the group managed to secure a Paycheck Protection Program loan, those funds ran out at the end of summer and as a result, furloughed musician employees through February 9, 2021. Assuming the group is back up and running …

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Early Reports From San Francisco Opera Orchestra Settlement Look Rough

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It appears the San Francisco Opera (SFO) and its orchestra musicians have reached an agreement for a new collective bargaining agreement. Janos Gereben was first to report on the newly ratified deal along with some key details in an article for the 9/20/2020 edition of sfexaminer.com. It appears to be a two-year deal with a 50 percent cut in weekly salary over the course of the fall season.  While a musician …

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The Various Paths Of COVID Era Bargaining

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As shutdowns continue, orchestras with regularly scheduled collective bargaining agreement (CBA) renewals are finding themselves thrust into bargaining during less than ideal conditions. Add those with need reopen existing CBAs into the mix and we’re just starting to see how all of this is unfolding. The Boston Symphony Orchestra (BSO) announced a new multi-year agreement that includes cuts, although it’s a bit uncertain exactly how much and over what period. We’ll …

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Indianapolis Symphony Reaches Short Term Deal

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When we last examined the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra (ISO) back in July 2020, things were looking grim; the current collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was expiring in a few months and there was a protracted dispute over back pay and health care benefits. Since then, the organization announced cancelling the entire 20/21 season and fast forward a few weeks and we have a new one-year agreement that covers the length of the …

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