Building Fairness for Substitute and Extra Musicians; Welcoming New Negotiators

April 1, 2026

Rochelle Skolnick  -  AFM Symphonic Services Division Director

In August 2015, more than 10 years ago, I wrote in these pages about the inequity and divisiveness of the widespread practice of individually negotiated discretionary overscale for certain “star” musicians. In the same column, I discussed the equally damaging practice of compensating subs and extras at rates below the standard per service rate for regular contract musicians. Although we have made slight progress since then, the ills I described in that piece persist. I encourage you to revisit it here: internationalmusician.org/discretionary-overscale-and-parity-for-subs-and-extras-in-the-symphony-orchestra.

I am pleased to see the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians (ICSOM) leadership call attention over the past two years to the dangers of an overscale structure that reinforces power differentials and undermines collective bargaining. I have not yet seen a groundswell of support from rank-and-file musicians for the proposition that we should abolish the practice of such individual negotiations in favor of collectively bargained overscale for titled musicians. I remain hopeful that, before the end of my career representing musicians, we will see that happen.

Less controversial, but every bit as important, is the need to address the lack of parity and equity for subs and extras and those musicians’ who are extreme vulnerability in our workplaces. In the last 10 years, some orchestras have bargained improvements in the per service rates of subs and extras such that they appear to be earning more or less the same wage rate per service as contracted musicians.

But, as I noted in 2015, these numbers only tell part of the story. Without access to employer-provided health and disability insurance or paid sick leave, many of these freelance musicians are just one injury or serious illness away from financial hardship or even homelessness. In some orchestras, subs and extras are not eligible even to receive pension contributions, leading to a pernicious lack of retirement security.

It has been interesting to hear from unions in other countries (notably the British Musicians’ Union) through the AFM’s association with the International Federation of Musicians (FIM). Their per service wage rates for subs and extras are actually set above the standard per service rates of contracted musicians—specifically to provide those musicians with compensation in lieu of the benefits the contracted musicians enjoy. At minimum, this seems an eminently sensible paradigm we could emulate.

Lack of job security is another component of precarity for subs and extras. With no protections against arbitrary dismissal, no guarantees of long-term employment, and (in most cases) no mechanism to appeal adverse decisions about their continued employment, subs and extras are fully dependent for their next week of work on the good opinion of those who compile the sub lists and make the hiring decisions. Notwithstanding their positions of power, these individuals are ordinary humans, subject to the ordinary vagaries and foibles of human nature, including implicit biases and emotional vicissitudes. (Although no one likes to think of themselves as biased, science shows that all of us harbor certain implicit biases, some more benign than others. If you believe yourself to be free from such biases, I challenge you to take the Implicit Association Test offered by Project Implicit at implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html.)

The precarity of their employment makes it feel extremely risky for subs and extras to speak up when they are discriminated against, harassed, or even assaulted in connection with their work. The threat of backlash against those who call out bad behavior by powerful people keeps some musicians silent even in the face of grave abuses. Their lack of entitlement to future work—or even to an explanation as to why they are no longer being hired—makes it almost impossible to prove damages when these musicians stop getting called for work.

Following the work I did with the Black Orchestral Network (BON) to develop model standards and procedures aimed at improving the probationary process for all involved, I began to consider whether protections could also be developed for subs and extras that would ameliorate their situation without eliminating the flexibility that is the hallmark of hiring these contingent musicians. (You can review these guidelines by logging into members.AFM.org and following this link: members.afm.org/member/page/id/16737.)

Could we develop model practices at least to serve as a conversation starter in bargaining over how best to remedy inequity for these vulnerable musicians? Our success in the realm of probation and tenure leads me to believe this is possible.

This spring, I am taking the next step in the process of developing such model practices by convening an advisory working group that includes representatives of the symphonic player conferences and freelance musicians who regularly work as subs and extras. Drawing on conversations with these and other stakeholders, I believe we can develop recommendations that not only improve conditions for subs and extras but also help to further diminish injustice in our symphonic workplaces. If you believe you could contribute meaningfully to this work, please contact me at rskolnick@afm.org.

Finally, I encourage you to read in this issue about our two newest Symphonic Services Division (SSD) staff members, Negotiators Campbell MacDonald and Erica Milbourne. With the hiring of MacDonald and Milbourne, we now have a staff of five full-time negotiators assisting musicians and locals throughout the United States and Canada. We hope soon to hire a sixth, French-speaking negotiator on a part-time basis to assist musicians in Francophone Canada. The AFM staff, including this great SSD team, is a tremendous resource to our locals and our members and I couldn’t be prouder of them and the work we do.

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SSD Negotiator Profile: Campbell MacDonald

Campbell MacDonald did not set out to become a negotiator. He set out to be a clarinetist—and he still is, serving as principal clarinet of the Fort Wayne Philharmonic since 2004. But a 2009 election to its orchestra committee launched a parallel career that would prove just as defining.

Over the next 14 years, MacDonald served as Regional Orchestra Players Association (ROPA) delegate, musician spokesperson, committee chair, and president of Local 58 (Fort Wayne, IN). COVID pushed matters to a crisis when management proposed slashing the orchestra from 63 contract players to 15. The musicians launched an unprecedented publicity campaign, secured a short-term agreement in 2021 preserving all positions, and when that was not enough, went on strike in 2022. Three months later they prevailed, securing their wage goals, preserving every position, maintaining bargaining rights, and expanding the season.

MacDonald credits that outcome to rank-and-file organizing. “Focus is often lost when we fall prey to the misdirection, red herrings, and smokescreens thrown at us by management,” he says. His answer is keep returning to basic questions: Who is impacted? Do we have all the information? Who is delivering the message?

“This is why an active and engaged orchestra committee is necessary in our workplaces,” he says. “When we are listening to our colleagues and taking contract enforcement seriously, we learn our workplace challenges in greater detail.”

That experience has carried MacDonald into a new role as an AFM Symphonic Services Division (SSD) negotiator. “Effectively addressing workplace issues brings our people closer together and prepares us for the challenges we may face at the bargaining table,” he says.

When not performing on stage or negotiating at the bargaining table, MacDonald is a competitive foosball player—a mid-level tournament competitor on a circuit that does, in fact, include a professional tour. “Wherever I travel, I know where the nearest foosball table is,” he says.

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SSD Negotiator Profile: Erica Milbourne

Erica Milbourne’s path into labor advocacy began with an unexpected invitation. Four years into her career as a public school music educator in Pennsylvania, the president of the teachers union local asked her to get involved. She attended a weekend training conference, started going to monthly meetings, and kept on going.

Over the next 27 years, Milbourne built a parallel career as a labor negotiator while continuing to teach. She served on committees and later as president of AFM Local 294 (Lancaster, PA). She also sat on the teachers’ negotiating committee through every round of bargaining.

In 2001, she joined the Lancaster Symphony Orchestra as a violinist, later serving on its first negotiating committee following a successful organizing drive and a lengthy legal battle. She has been at the table for every successor agreement.

That dual background shapes her work as an AFM Symphonic Services Division (SSD) negotiator. “Listening to my local officers and orchestra committees to better understand their vast array of challenges and goals helps with strategic planning,” she says. “As a working musician myself, I am constantly reminded of the real challenges from the inside looking out, which helps me stay grounded.”

On the challenges facing musicians at the bargaining table, she sees real opportunity. “We need to continuously educate ourselves about the systems that affect us and the role our collective actions can play in making meaningful changes,” she says.

Away from negotiations, Milbourne still finds herself helping others. A self-proclaimed “crazy cat lady”—at one point she cared for as many as nine—she is drawn to special-needs felines, and today her household includes three seniors: Juliet, Carlton, and Smoky.

And when she needs to reset completely, there is always Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2. “It never fails to move me,” she says, “no matter how many times I have heard it.”

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