The 3/12/2008 edition of the Columbus Dispatch published an article by Barbara Carmen that reports Franklin County, the county where the Columbus Symphony Orchestra (CSO) is located, approved a $1.2 million matching grant for area arts groups and the CSO will receive a considerable share of those resources if they successfully raise the matching funds. Beyond the obvious fact that this is good news for the CSO, and all central Ohio arts groups, it is important to note that the article reports that Kate Matheny, grants coordinator for Franklin County, said "the goal [of the matching grant] isn’t just to stabilize arts organizations, but to plan for their growth." Matheny’s quote should serve as a warning shot to the CSO executive board…
Negotiations
In Columbus, The War Of The Rhetoric Begins
Updated 10:30 a.m. CT: The 3/14/2008 edition of the Columbus Dispatch published an article by Michael Grossberg which included some of the first volleys of traditional rhetoric usually reserved for contentious labor negotiations. In particular, the article reports that Tony Beadle, Columbus Symphony Orchestra (CSO) Executive Director, accused the Columbus Symphony Orchestra Musicians’ Association of "rebuffing" the CSO board’s recent efforts to meet with the musicians thereby jeopardizing crucial fundraising efforts. However, the article fails to report that the musicians never received a formal notice to initiate negotiations from the CSO board until the beginning of the week of 3/9/2008. Furthermore, the musicians accepted the request and notified the CSO board on 3/13/2008 that they would be willing to meet with them with counsel for the initial bargaining session as early as today, 3/16/2008…
Even Marathons Have To End
Good news in Phoenix as the Arizona Opera Company and the Arizona Opera Orchestra Musicians’ Association reached a tentative agreement on Sunday, 3/9/2008. The 12 month long negotiation reached a critical point last month when both sides approved a side letter to the agreement which guarantees the Arizona Opera Orchestra Musicians right of first refusal for all productions through the 2011/12 season. The first two years in the three year contract …
A Marathon Negotiation In Phoenix
How appealing does a 12 month long collective bargaining agreement negotiation sound? Probably not that appealing but that is precisely where the Arizona Opera Company and the Arizona Opera Orchestra Musicians’ Association are. The organization has been operating for the 2007/08 season without a contract and, until recently, was approaching a labor stoppage that threatened March performances of Mozart’s The Magic Flute…
Tentative Agreement In Omaha
According to information released late Thursday afternoon, the Omaha Symphony Association (OSA) and the Omaha Symphony Musicians’ Organization (OSMO) are close to reaching an agreement after performing the entire season on an expired contract. The OSMO conducted a ratification meeting late Thursday evening. If ratified by the musicians, details of the new agreement will be posted as soon as possible (so check back later today). In the meantime, you can read more about the prolonged negotiations by doing a search for "Omaha" via Adaptistration’s new Google custom search feature n the right-hand navigation column (more on that later, but it’s a fantastically efficient search tool, much better than its predecessor) as well as the OSMO webpage and the OSA webpage.
UPDATE 2/8/08: Further details were made availalbe in a press release issued by the OSA…