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Home » Orchestra News » St. Louis Symphony Management Denies Librarian Inclusion in Bargaining Unit


St. Louis Symphony Management Denies Librarian Inclusion in Bargaining Unit

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On March 22, the librarians of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra voted to join their colleagues in the orchestra as members of the bargaining unit represented by Local 2-197 (St. Louis, MO). Regional Director Leonard Perez of Region 14 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) ordered the Armour-Globe election after a two-day hearing in which symphony management challenged the appropriateness of including the three full-time music librarians in a bargaining unit of instrumental musicians. They also alleged one librarian is a supervisor not eligible for inclusion in any bargaining unit. Perez rejected both of these arguments, finding that the librarians shared a community of interest with the other musicians sufficient to support their inclusion in the unit and that there was insufficient evidence the challenged librarian exercised supervisory authority.

Unfortunately, symphony management is still refusing to recognize and bargain with Local 2-197 on behalf of the librarians. On April 15 management filed a 31-page request for review of the regional director’s decision with the NLRB in Washington, DC. Symphony management’s stance is in conflict with both settled law and industry standards: 35 of the 52 International Conference of Symphony Opera Musicians (ICSOM) orchestras include librarians in the same bargaining unit with other musicians.







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