The August, 2010 edition of International Musician published an article by Christopher Durham, American Federation of Musicians (AFM) Symphonic Services Division (SSD) Director and Assistant to the President, titled Quality Leadership Is Essential in Difficult Times. Don’t let the obvious nature of the title fool you, the article essentially levies blame on much of the hardships throughout the field as the result of and in response to the practices and policies endorsed and implemented the League of American Orchestras…
American Federation of Musicians
In Richardson, The Battle Begins
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…
A New AFM President And Why You Should Care
Following yesterday’s National Convention election, Tom Lee has been replaced by Ray Hair (president of Dallas Local 72-147) as president of the American Federation of Musicians (AFM). Lee garnered 44 percent of the vote while Hair secured 56 percent (figures via Robert Levine’s AFM Convention blog). It wasn’t a landslide, but a clear victory nonetheless. For some managers, this event might be best filed under the heading “Who Cares?” but in reality, it will have a substantial dynamic impact on the field…
Leave The AFM? “I Don’t Think So”
At least, that’s what Robert Levine writes in response to the AFM poll results here from earlier this month (here and here) at his blog The AFM Observer. In addition to stating his own position, Levine hypothesizes “The real answer that most orchestra musicians would give to a question like ‘do you think you and your colleagues should leave the AFM,’ if given a realistic list of potential costs and benefits, would be ‘it depends.'”…
AFM Poll Update: The Grass Is Looking Greener
When the original poll results were published on 6/4/2010 I mentioned that we would revisit the results if there are any significant changes or an unusually large spike in responses. As it turns out, both have come to pass. Since then, the poll produced just under 800 respondents and that surge shifted the response ratios quite a bit… Since then, a large percentage of those new respondents displayed sentiments toward orchestra …