Is Fort Worth’s Glass Half-Full Or Half-Empty?

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Now that the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) managed to avoid an ugly work stoppage and temporarily release some labor pressure by agreeing to a one-year extension, both sides have the opportunity to emerge from the specter of brinkmanship. Having said that, let’s examine some glass-half-full/glass-half-empty scenarios that may unfold over the next six months of negotiations. Glass-Half-Full Ultimately, negotiations are all about revenue and expenses but even though the latter …

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All Quiet On The Texan Front

UPDATE: It looks like cooler heads are prevailing for the time being as the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO) has decided against imposing a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) after musicians rejected what they called their last best, final offer. As of now, there are no firm plans on whether or not both sides plan to return to bargaining so for the time being, it is a hurry up and wait scenario. Given the …

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Impasse And Imposition In Fort Worth

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There’s no shortage of labor drama right now and the latest group to teeter on the brink of a work stoppage is the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra (FWSO). With their most recent master agreement expired as of 7/31/2015, stakeholders have adopted a play and talk approach but things appear to be coming to a head as a result of the employer declaring an impasse and issuing a last, best, and final …

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Tensions On The Rise In Fort Worth

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Although Play and Talk is a useful treatment for bargaining deadline ills, it is important to remember that it isn’t a cure and as time marches on amid the current bargaining cycle, we’re beginning to see the early signs of those arrangements wearing thin among some of the remaining orchestras from our list of mid to large budget orchestras with expired collective bargaining agreements. Specifically, the ongoing negotiations at the Fort …

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Jumping The Gun

Whenever an orchestra goes out on strike, it isn’t unusual for folks to get a little jumpy and the bigger the group that strikes, the jumpier folks get. Case in point, not long after the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) went on strike, I started receiving messages from readers asking when I was going to write something about the Fort Worth Symphony shortly after that organization’s negotiations made local headlines…

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