It seems that the board of the Richardson Symphony Orchestra (RSO) has decided to discontinue bargaining with their musicians in advance of the current collective bargaining agreement expiration date of August 31, 2010. They also informed patrons in a letter dated 7/1/2010 that in addition to suspending negotiations, they “will not be renegotiating a collective bargaining agreement with the American Federation of Musician.” UPDATE: 4:00pm CT, 7/2/2010 – AFM places Richardson Symphony Orchestra on their International Unfair List…
Negotiations
Charleston Musicians Reject Latest Contract Offer
Since cancelling the end of their 2009/10 series, the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (CSO) has been negotiating with their musicians with the goal of securing an interim collective bargaining agreement while the organization engages in what it calls a restructuring of its organizational and operating model. The latest waypoint in that process took place on 5/20/2010 when the Players Association of the Charleston Symphony Orchestra (PACSO) voted down the CSO’s latest proposal…
Contract News Out Of Detroit
The 3/18/2010 edition of the Detroit Free Press published an article by Mark Stryker about the ongoing negotiations between the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) and their musicians. The big news is although both sides were engaged in talks for nearly a year to modify the existing contract before its expiration date, they haven’t been able to reach an agreement. Since the expiration date is this August, both sides agreed that it makes better sense to simply roll the talks over into regularly scheduled negotiations. On the surface, this might seem troubling, but it’s actually a good sign…
Tentative Seattle Agreement and Summit Live Blogging Day 2
The Seattle Symphony and their musicians have reached a tentative agreement. The new agreement, which has yet to be ratified by the musicians, will last 23 months over the course of three seasons and contains some very unique elements (although not entirely unprecedented for the Seattle Musicians). As I’m invovled with the American Orchestra Summit Day 2 (I’ll post Twitteresque updates again through the day if possible) and giving a lecture/Q&A …
Initial Details Of The Cleveland Settlement
Although comprehensive details in the form of the final agreement language won’t be available for a few weeks or more, some aspects of the new agreement have been made public. Based on information included in a press statement, here’s what can be discerned:
- Length: 9/2009 (retroactive) – 8/2011; or the 2009/10, 2010/11, and 2011/12 seasons.
- Compensation: Freeze for the first two years, then a 3% raise in the first half of 2011/12 and an additional 2% raise in the last half.
- Musicians will not have increased medical insurance premiums (this point was updated @ 9:12am CT).