Long-Awaited NLRB Decision Backs Local 72-147 Musicians in Pandemic-Era Labor Dispute

June 1, 2026

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued a final decision on April 30 finding that three Dallas-Fort Worth symphony orchestras committed multiple unfair labor practices when they unilaterally modified their labor agreement with musicians during the COVID-19 pandemic, and ultimately withdrew union recognition altogether. The decision caps a nearly six-year fight by Local 72-147 (Dallas-Fort Worth, TX), which refused to let a serious union-busting campaign go unanswered.

The case, involving the Garland Symphony Orchestra Association, Las Colinas Symphony Orchestra Association, and Symphony Arlington, centered on actions taken by the orchestras’ shared management in the summer of 2020. Operating as a legally recognized single employer, management declared a bargaining impasse, implemented an approximate 20% wage cut, and inserted a sweeping “exigent circumstances” clause that would have given management essentially unreviewable authority to modify or cancel contracts at will. Despite constant objections by Local 72-147, management proceeded anyway, and then withdrew union recognition entirely in June 2021, just before the master agreement’s expiration.

The NLRB ruling was unambiguous: a pandemic does not suspend contract law. The National Labor Relations Act prohibits an employer from modifying the terms of a collective bargaining agreement during its operative term without the union’s consent, regardless of the employer’s financial circumstances. Management’s argument that economic necessity justified unilateral action found no support in the board’s decision.

The withdrawal of union recognition fared no better. To lawfully withdraw recognition, an employer must demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that a union has actually lost majority support. The orchestras offered only anecdotal oral complaints from musicians; there was no petition, no written documentation, no decertification filing. The NLRB found that fell far short of the required standard.

Despite major hurdles from all directions, Local 72-147 kept the case alive through years of legal proceedings. “This decision is the result of the union’s unwillingness to relent on the process that had been made more difficult by the pandemic and the politics of serious long-term union busting,” says Stewart Williams, president of Local 72-147.

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