Negotiations

Is the collective bargaining agreement negotiation environment the most effective tool professional orchestra musicians can use to influence the artistic and economic strategic direction for their respective organization?

Ideally, musicians and their orchestra need both the collective bargaining process and structured committees (such as long-range planning committees and artistic advisory committees) in order for musicians to have the maximum positive influence on the artistic and economic strategic direction of their orchestras. Both of these processes have specific roles to fulfill. Committees such as long range planning committees, and artistic advisory committees are needed for musicians, board members and management to discuss issues such as ticket sales, new markets and concert series, programming, community outreach, etc. and a long list of other similar items that will impact the orchestra’s future. But there is also a different need to discuss the mandatory subject of bargaining (wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment) between the union and the employer (and their respective representatives) which will directly impact both the employer and the musicians, and who will understandably bring to the table differing viewpoints on what and what should not go into the contract.

But unfortunately, across the country too many of these long range/artistic planning committees, have, for whatever reason allowed their rhetoric to drift into discussion about the mandatory subjects of bargaining, When they do these committees are engaging in collective bargaining, but usually without the agreement of and the participation of the union. By law these committees cannot exclude the union or its duly appointed bargaining representatives when such issues are discussed. The Federal Court and the National Labor Relations Board have been quite clear in decisions such as Electromation the 35 F.3rd 1148 (1994) and E.I. DuPont DeNemours & Co., 311 NLRB 893 (1993) that it is an unfair labor practice for managements to utilize what is loosely referred to as “worker/management committees” (in orchestras this might be a long-range planning committee, an artistic advisory committee, or others) to discuss mandatory subjects of bargaining with the workers to the exclusion of without the agreement of their union, thereby circumventing the collective bargaining process.

That being said, it is my view that groups such as long range/artistic planning committees perform an extremely valuable function for musicians, management and board members to engage in conceptual discussion about where they desire and think that their orchestra should go-artistically, economically, in outreach, and in general how they serve their community.

Often we see the results of these committees’ work in a long range plan. Over the years some of these plans I have seen have been truly “pie in the sky;” that is, someone’s delusional dream that only wasted the participants’ money, and had the consultant or facilitator laughing all the way to the bank. On the opposite end were plans well grounded in the realities of their community, their audiences, their current and potential financial resources, as well as a healthy level of commitment from the Board of Directors, management and the musicians to a pattern of growth for the institution.

Coming to consensus on long and short term concepts and goals for the institution is only the beginning. >From there those concepts must be translated into the specifics of the wages, and terms and conditions of employment, and therein is the purpose of collective bargaining. Too often I hear from many who consider that that is when the war begins. It need not. Whether an orchestra is engaging in traditional collective bargaining, interest-based bargaining, or whatever, there must be recognition by all that both the union and the employer bring to the bargaining table different desires and viewpoints of their respective constituencies; therefore disagreement is an inherent part of the process. If both the union and the employer can, in good faith gets past entrenchment in their respective positions and into creative problem solving and compromise when necessary, I have found that through the negotiation process the parties can often actually strengthen their relationships with each other.