Negotiations

The negotiation process has been a part of my life since I was first elected to the Utah Symphony Orchestra Committee in the mid 1980s. I witnessed several negotiations as Orchestra Committee Chairman, and became intimately involved in the process when I assumed the Local 104 Presidency in 1994—not as negotiator, but as “overseer.” Negotiations have always been complex and sometimes contentious, but through the conventional format we have generally realized periods of labor peace and substantive gains.

Our industry tends to draw a “Berlin Wall” between conventional bargaining and what is called Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB) see Robert Levine’s article: To IBB or not to IBB . Although the Utah Symphony has not used IBB officially as a negotiation process, we use it informally between negotiations all the time. Frequently, the Orchestra Committee and the Union will resolve potential grievances, non-renewals and the like by open discussion with Management. These are situations in which mutual interests and gains are discussed and resolved in terms of CBA requirements, labor advocacy and Management needs.

The Utah Symphony Musicians (and the Union) dismissed IBB (as informally suggested as a negotiation technique by the CEO of the merged Utah Symphony & Opera) as recently as 2003-04. There were several reasons for this. Having been witness to many time-consuming experimental adventures in communication at the Utah Symphony (ie: Strategic Planning sessions that failed or were shelved), I felt that any change in the conventional negotiation process was extremely high-risk. This was especially true in our case due to financial turmoil at the workplace, negotiation resources available from the Local and the proven necessity of ongoing legal counsel in our venue. Additionally, the merged organization was mostly a new administration endowed with a paucity of institutional history or musical knowledge.

The conventional bargaining table has produced some very positive results in the area of the musicians’ participation in orchestra governance by mandating the membership of two musicians on the Symphony’s Executive Board. I have always felt strongly that there is no “bad” communication.

One aspect of the negotiation process that is tantamount to success is artist solidarity. In my experience, our artists have had a powerful lobby with the strategic and artistic direction of the organization due mostly to strong and committed musicians who serve on teams/committees when necessary. Local 104’s legal counsel has served as the Local’s appointee on the Negotiation Team in the past negotiations, and has served as negotiation chairman. He has had a strong effect on labor solidarity. Personalities, charisma and efficacy determine the success of the process, not the method utilized.