Negotiations

Moderator’s note: The following is in response to and includes quotes from Curt Long’s contribution and Laura Brownell’s contribution from Wednesday, 4/19/06:

“As has already been noted, we all bring different experiences to the discussion. I have only ever heard one manager (thankfully long gone from the field) espouse the philosophy that his goal was “to present performances at the least possible cost.” Boards and Management in general want to give their musicians the best deal they can afford, and want to structure the work in a way that maximizes opportunities to create revenues (of course, there is plenty of room to disagree about what “they can afford”). Every orchestra strategic planning process that I have been part of has included some form of “investing more money in the orchestra” as an organizational strategy.” – Curt Long

Financial responsibility and stability is crucial, and I do not mean to imply otherwise. My point was made by Laura in a much more eloquent manner in the following sentence:

“It is also normal to have a bit of tension around two key organizational objectives – artistic excellence and financial stability – that in the short term appear to be in conflict.” – Laura Brownell

There is tension between management/boards and players. The collective bargain process provides the sides with an effective tool to address these issues and find an acceptable compromise. Most musicians appreciate the time and energy that their volunteer boards give to their community’s orchestra, but not all boards are created equal. I’ve heard instances of some symphony boards hiring “union busting lawyers” to represent them at the table. In my orchestra, the comment of one former board member after it was announced that negotiations were completed was “So how much did we lose this time?”. Some areas of the country are less than thrilled in dealing with organized labor. And it is not unreasonable to say that many board members have little understanding of this industry. While subbing with the Florida Orchestra 12 years ago, I remember a rehearsal where board members were invited to sit next to the musicians. One member of the FL. Orch board leaned over to the principal oboist to ask what she did for a living. (Sorry, I know that is an extreme example, but it is funny.) To be fair, most board members dedicate their time and energy because of a love for the arts, their community, and hopefully for the artists of the orchestra. But there are board members that view musicians as the hired help, and for that reason, collective bargaining is still the musicians’ most effective tool for negotiations.

“And I can honestly say that I’ve never seen a single case where musicians were invited to serve on a committee as a tool to keep musicians happy and in their place or divide the musicians against themselves.” – Curt Long

Unfortunately, we had to negotiate language into our contract due to this practice under former management. Past management hand-picked the musicians they wanted on certain committees. Musicians may now volunteer or be recommended by the orchestra to serve on committees, and management and the orchestra committee can mutually veto a musician from serving if there is concern over their participation.

I enjoyed reading Curt Long’s general comments. As far as strategic planning, our orchestra recently completed this process. The facilitator met with all of the different groups in the orchestra from the board and staff to the guild and musicians. But when the process was completed, none of the issues raised by the musicians were included. The outcome and goal (to quote our orchestra committee chair) is “to reduce the deficit and operate within a balanced budget.” (We paid a consultant how much money to come up with that jewel of wisdom?) But through collective bargaining, the musicians have been able to influence the direction of our orchestra. As a per-service regional “driving for dollars” orchestra, the orchestra members looked at what we needed to do to attract the highest level of musicians available in the region. Over the course of three separate negotiations we have been able to address many issues (contract levels, minimum service guarantees, travel, pension, leave policy, etc.) that have made us more competitive in recruiting musicians to play in our orchestra. But if left to the management or board to address on their own, it is doubtful any of these changes would have occurred. I wish we were as successful in talking about acoustics is long range strategic planning.