Tag Archives: cba

Orchestra News

Boston Musicians Association Achieves Five-Year CBA

The Boston Landmarks Orchestra voted by an overwhelming majority to ratify a first CBA with the Boston Musicians Association (BMA), Local 9-535 (Boston, MA). Informal talks and formal negotiations spanned over four years and included a stipulation by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to bargain.

Negotiations were challenging, but with the help of the Federal Mediation and Conciliatory Services (FMCS) and a tremendous amount of work from the BMA member bargaining committee—Chair Ken Stalberg, Hans Bohn, Kevin Green, Nancy Hudgins and Bob Lynam—the BMA and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra came to a five-year agreement. Among other standard AFM provisions, the agreement names a tenured roster protected by solid non-renewal and appeals processes, and includes solid annual wage increases.

Orchestra News

Detroit Symphony Orchestra Ratifies Contract Early

Seven months in advance of the expiration of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), musicians and management of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) ratified a new contract in January. The new agreement takes effect September 7, 2020 and runs through September 5, 2023.

The CBA will increase base salary by 5.1% over three years and will add an additional week of performances in the third year. Musicians will donate up to four services per year to support high-profile performance opportunities and will continue to have the choice to opt in for community performances. The contract adds a new orchestra position in year two, bringing the orchestra complement from 87 to 88 musicians.

Under the new contract, paid family leave will increase and musicians will take on a greater share of the cost of health insurance premiums.

Principal Horn Karl Pituch, chair of the negotiating committee and a member of Local 5 (Detroit, MI), said he believes the contract will allow Detroit Symphony Orchestra to continue to attract the best musicians in the world. The organization shared that the contract is in line with the parameters set in DSO’s 10-year plan for fiscal and artistic sustainability, introduced in 2013.

Orchestra News

Allentown Symphony Orchestra Ratifies New Four-Year CBA

The musicians and management of the Allentown Symphony Orchestra have ratified a new four-year collective bargaining agreement. The new contract includes raises of 2%, 2.5%, 3%, and 3.5% to the base service rate, an increase to the local broadcast rate, and a small increase to the mileage rate. The contrabassoon position was added to the base orchestra, and new language was added to increase the number of instrument combinations eligible for doubling payments. It was a difficult task, but the negotiating team was also successful in maintaining audition procedures that reflect industry norms. Allentown Symphony Orchestra musicians are members of Local 45 (Allentown, PA).

Orchestra News

Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra Expands Season with New CBA

In late June, the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) musicians, members of Local 8 (Milwaukee, WI), and management reached a four-year contract agreement that will cover the 2018-2019 season through the 2022-2023 season. Musicians will see an increase of 1.75% in 2018-2019 and increase of 3.5% in 2020-2021, which will bring base pay to $70,722.96. The pay increase in the 2020-2021 season will come with an additional week of services—increasing the season length to 42 weeks. Substitute/extra pay will increase 12.4% per service over the term of the agreement.

“This four-year agreement, following a holding pattern in recent years of short-term contracts, demonstrates a commitment by the MSO board and management to artistic quality and stability for musicians during this exciting time of transition for the MSO,” says Laurie Shawger of Local 8, chair of the players’ council.

During the contract term, MSO will move into a new concert hall—a former theater space that is under renovation. The orchestra is expected to make its debut in the new hall in 2020. The symphony is also currently searching for its next music director. The new season is planned with a series of guest conductors.

Recent News

Boston Landmarks Orchestra Votes to Unionize

In a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election, Boston Landmarks Orchestra musicians voted 41 to 5 for Local 9-535 (Boston, MA) to represent them as they organize and negotiate their first collective bargaining agreement (CBA). With a unique mission to provide free music for all, the 15-year-old Boston Landmarks Orchestra performs a series of concerts on Boston’s famous Esplanade along the Charles River. Repertoire includes commissioned pieces from composers who live in Boston’s various neighborhoods, as well as standard orchestral classics.

“The CBA is integral in supporting the ongoing dialog between players and management as that relationship continues to grow, helping to develop a strong team to work in today’s difficult economy,” says Hans Bohn, a trombonist and member of the Organizing Committee. “For the Boston Landmarks Orchestra, creating a CBA is crucial to business and artistic growth, and will only help in taking this exciting organization to a stronger position in the Boston arts scene.”

Violist and committee member Donna Jerome adds, “I think moving forward with formulating a CBA with Boston Landmarks Orchestra is a step toward offering the musicians tenure, stability, and fair representation in all aspects of the orchestra’s operations.”

International Musician, Orchestra News

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra Ratifies New Agreement

In November, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra announced that it has ratified a new CBA with its musicians, effective through 2020. The contract includes a wage increase of 2.5% per year for New York City rates, as well as restructured rates in other markets. The contract introduces a new chamber music scale, reflecting the orchestra’s increased presence throughout the tri-state area, and a community engagement scale, reflecting a commitment to broaden its reach in the local New York City community.

The new agreement provides more flexibility in touring rules, allowing Orpheus to adjust to complex travel schedules. A new Artistic Oversight Committee will continually evaluate the orchestra’s structure and artistic quality. Finally, the contract allows Orpheus to augment its roster by hiring musicians into a new “associate membership” tier.

The orchestra was recently awarded an increased grant of $175,000 from The Howard Gilman Foundation to support its 2017-2018 New York City performance activity. Orpheus Chamber Ensemble, whose musicians are members of Local 802 (New York City), is unique in its structure and governance, performing without a conductor and rotating musical leadership roles for each work.

collective bargaining agreement
Recent News

We Have an Agreement! What Comes Next?

by Jane Owen, AFM Symphonic Services Division Negotiator

The new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) has been agreed upon and ratified. The revised document has been proofread and signed and the ink has barely dried. Now the musicians of the orchestra, and especially the orchestra committee, get to breathe a sigh of relief and go back to practicing, playing concerts, and living their lives, right? Well, yes, and no.

Right away work begins for the orchestra committee to start preparations for the next negotiation. There should be a strong committee in place every season, but it is especially important during the first year of an agreement when the musicians and management have new working conditions to implement. It is recommended that committee member terms be staggered two-year periods to provide continuity of experienced members on the committee. Some orchestras have separate committees: one to negotiate and one to handle the day-to-day business of the orchestra. It is important that these two committees communicate throughout and after the negotiation. Also, a member of the committee during the negotiation should continue on to the orchestra committee when the new agreement begins, if possible.

The orchestra committee must document all problems that come up during the term of the new CBA, whether grieved or not, and the results of dealing with those problems. It can be helpful to keep a copy of the CBA with notes about these issues to review for the next set of negotiations. If a resolution or grievance results in new language, that language must be saved with the CBA to be included in the new agreement when future negotiations occur.

If the CBA provides for musician representatives to the orchestra board of directors or artistic advisory committees that meet with management, the orchestra committee must establish clear lines of communication with those representatives. Interactions between any of these representatives and management should be coordinated through the orchestra committee to avoid confusion about issues governed by the CBA. All these representatives must be aware of their responsibilities and the extent of their authority, if any. Musician representatives to the board and artistic advisory committees can be extremely useful for communication with management and the board, but the orchestra committee and the union are the only musician representatives able to allow waivers to clauses in the CBA or negotiate items not covered by it.

It is important that the musician representative(s) to the board report back to the orchestra committee and the orchestra as a whole, if necessary, any pertinent information they receive at board meetings. They should periodically receive financial statements, which can be analyzed as the seasons progress to be aware of any problems that may be brewing, or conversely, good news that is happening. (For example, if ticket sales are flourishing or the recent gala was a great success.) It’s best to gather information along the way and avoid being surprised by good or bad financial news when preparations for negotiations start in earnest.

If your orchestra hasn’t yet done so, start a “musicians of” website, Facebook page, and Twitter account. Start an email newsletter. Use social media to present positive information about the orchestra and musician community involvement. Our communities often don’t know that this is how we make our living. There is little awareness of the number of concerts we play in schools, churches, adjoining neighborhoods, or other venues. Help spread the news! These are great resources to build and identify your fan base and supporters, if you face a troublesome negotiation along the way. Once again, of course, the orchestra committee needs to monitor what information goes out via these outlets before it is posted. This ensures that the musicians are always portrayed in the best way possible.

The orchestra committee can also work with the local union to encourage musician participation in local activities. Are orchestra members on the local’s board or do any act as local officers? Are there regular meetings that orchestra members could attend? The time between negotiations is a good opportunity to strengthen the connection between musicians, their local, and area labor groups and to seek out available resources should they be needed. AFM orchestra conferences, ICSOM and ROPA, provide valuable information and support. Through their conference delegate, the committee can maximize those resources as well.

Finally, communication is key. Be sure that orchestra musicians know who is on their orchestra committee and who their local representatives are. Distribute contact information for these representatives at the beginning of the season. Establish how and when all committees and representatives will communicate with each other and the orchestra as a whole. This is all hard work, but well worth it when you are gathering the forces and the information you need to negotiate your next CBA.

NEA
Recent News

Solidarity and Resolve Essential to CBA Growth, NEA Preservation

by Rochelle Skolnick, Director, Symphonic Services Division and Special Counsel

As a close reader of the “Orchestra News” section of the International Musician might have noticed, orchestra contract settlements over the past year or so have almost uniformly exemplified the “growth not cuts” mantra adopted by the courageous musicians of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra during their contentious negotiations and strike. That growth has, in many cases, been incremental rather than dramatic but is nonetheless notable because it is symptomatic of a certain robust health within the symphonic field.

That health was confirmed by a longitudinal study (Orchestra Facts: 2006-2014) released by the League of American Orchestras in November 2016. Although that report received some attention at the time of its release, the press coverage largely missed one of its most important points. The study shows that, although the balance of funding sources for our orchestras has shifted somewhat over time, each of the funding streams upon which orchestras traditionally rely kept pace with or substantially outpaced inflation during the period measured by the study—with the exception of earned income, which trailed inflation by only 1%.

In the case of contributed income from trustees and foundations, which outpaced inflation by 45% and 13% respectively, the differential was dramatic. Yet, despite the industry-wide vigor in funding streams, expenses—the side of the ledger on which we find musician wages and benefits—actually trailed inflation for the same period, by 2.8%.

I believe that the relatively progressive contracts we have begun to see in the period since the League study concluded in 2014 represent a restoration to musicians of some of what was lost in the deeply concessionary bargaining that occurred post-2008. It’s about time.

But that restoration is not happening simply because managers and boards find it in the goodness of their hearts to take care of the musicians whose creativity and dedication draws patrons to concert halls and inspires donors to write checks. It certainly was not employer beneficence that brought the Fort Worth Symphony musicians back to the stage with a progressive contract after 13 weeks on the picket line. Rather, in every case, it has been the musicians’ solidarity and resolve that has won them their recent gains.

That was so for the musicians of the Fort Worth Symphony and it has been so for the musicians of other orchestras making significant gains, including the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Austin, Detroit, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Nashville, National, Pacific, St. Louis, and San Diego orchestras, among others.

It will take similar solidarity and resolve to beat back another peril to American orchestras: threatened cuts to governmental arts funding, including the outright elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, contained in the presidential budget proposal released March 16. The $148 million annual budget of the NEA represents just .012% of all federal discretionary spending, yet it profoundly touches the lives of American orchestra musicians and all those they serve.

NEA Funding

That effect is far from speculative or remote. Besides having reached progressive contract settlements in the past year, what do the Buffalo Philharmonic and the Austin, Detroit, Fort Worth, Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, Jacksonville, Kansas City, Nashville, National, Pacific, St. Louis and San Diego symphonies have in common? They all receive NEA grant funding.

In fiscal years 2016 and/or 2017, each one of those orchestras received an NEA grant to support one of a wide range of projects, both strikingly beautiful and culturally relevant. Grants went to support “Imagine Your Parks” events connecting several orchestras (including Jacksonville and St. Louis) with National Parks sites; a community engagement program focused on Buffalo’s international community in partnership with Buffalo Public Schools; premieres of new orchestral works written about and to loved ones (Kansas City); the Pacific Symphony’s American Composers Festival, featuring works by living Southern California-based composers; and the National Symphony Orchestra’s Sound Health initiative, which presents live classical music performances at DC-area medical facilities to enrich the lives of patients, family members, medical staff, and visitors.

These are just a few of the NEA-supported programs that expand minds and build connections among diverse groups of people. While abolition of the NEA would have a negligible effect on the federal budget, it would have a devastating effect on curiosity, intelligence, and empathy.

The March 16 budget proposal is only that—a proposal. It will be up to Congress to write the budget. As that process unfolds, I hope you will ensure your voice is heard in support of continued funding for the NEA and the myriad symphonic projects it enables. Tell members of Congress to Save the NEA at: www.afm.org/2017/02/nea/.

FIM IOC

At a moment when the voices of xenophobia and bigotry are raised louder in our political discourse than I ever thought possible in my lifetime, the International Orchestra Conference (IOC) taking place in Montreal, May 11-14, offers a meaningful opportunity for American and Canadian musicians to share the experiences of our sisters and brothers in symphony orchestras around the globe. The IOC is a project of the International Federation of Musicians (FIM), the international organization for musicians’ unions and representative organizations with approximately 70 institutional members in 60 countries throughout the world.

The AFM will have a substantial presence at the IOC with AFM elected officers (AFM President Ray Hair, Secretary-Treasurer Jay Blumenthal, International Executive Board member and Local 802 President Tino Gagliardi, and Local 406 President Luc Fortin and Secretary Eric Lefebvre); symphonic player conference leaders (ICSOM Chair Meredith Snow, OCSM/OMOSC President Robert Fraser, and ROPA Board Member Naomi Bensdorf-Frisch); and myself serving as moderators and panelists.

Topics covered will include the public value of orchestras, recorded broadcasts and musicians’ rights; orchestras integrating digital tools; practical aspects of outreach and education; unions’ roles in preserving orchestral institutions; the role of musicians serving on orchestra boards; and bullying and harassment. Other US and Canadian panelists will be Robert Massey, executive director of the Jacksonville Symphony, which concluded very progressive contract negotiations this season; Barbara Haws, New York Philharmonic archivist/historian; and Katherine Carleton, executive director of Orchestras Canada. Discussions promise to be lively and to promote understanding among orchestra musicians across international borders. I hope to see many of you joining us in Montreal.

jay blumenthal
Officer Columns, Secretary-Treasurer

Electronic CBA Ratification

For decades, the AFM Bylaws have been very specific and clear about the ratification procedure for collective bargaining agreements (CBAs). The integrity of the voting process has been given the highest priority so that bargaining unit members can have confidence in the election process. Additionally, protecting the identity of the voter is imperative, allowing them to vote their conscience without the worry of employer retaliation or member-to-member pressure.

As technology has made electronic voting possible, many members have expressed a desire for locals to conduct electronic CBA ratification voting. Up until the recent AFM Convention, the International Executive Board had been reluctant to endorse electronic voting until such time as locals could ensure the integrity of the process. It was also felt that an in-person ratification meeting just prior to a vote was invaluable, allowing bargaining unit members to ask questions, discuss the terms of the proposed agreement with their colleagues, and hear the recommendations from their local officers and elected rank-and-file committee. In-person voting also motivates members to physically come to the union hall, which is always a good thing. Too often, the only time some members visit the union hall is to pay their dues. In-person voting provides one more connection to the local.

For years, voting by mail ballot has co-existed with in-person ratification voting. Mail ballot was never the preferred method of voting, however, some bargaining units have members who live great distances from the union hall. For these members, in-person voting could present an undue hardship and expense that would effectively disenfranchise them.

While the bylaws now allow in-person, mail ballot, or electronic ratification voting, the requirement remains that all voting must be done one way (either all in-person, all mail ballot, or all electronic). Voting cannot be a combination of two or three methods.

The bylaw passed at the last AFM Convention in 2016 (Article 5, Section 32(d)) allows electronic ratification voting with very specific restrictions. The new bylaw for ratification by electronic balloting states, in part:

SECTION 32(d). Ratification by Electronic Balloting

  1. If it is necessary to hold a ratification by an electronic balloting method (e.g. online, telephone), then all voting shall be done by electronic balloting, provided that ratification by electronic balloting has been authorized by the Local’s bylaws or action of the Local’s Executive Board, and provided that the Local selects an independent organization approved by the International President’s Office to conduct the voting. In all cases, the method of voting must (1) ensure that the member casting the vote is eligible to do so, (2) ensure that the member casting the vote cannot be identified with the vote cast, and (3) afford sufficient safeguards to protect the integrity and security of the voting system. Further, in the case of electronic balloting, an appropriate accommodation must be made for a voter who lacks the technology or equipment necessary to cast his or her vote.
  2. ….

iii. The International President’s Office shall maintain a list of one or more vendors whose electronic balloting services meet the requirements set forth in this Section.

The President’s Office has determined that the following vendors offer services at affordable rates that meet the bylaw requirements for ratification by electronic balloting:

BallotPoint Election Services: http://www.ballotpoint.com/

ElectionBuddy: https://electionbuddy.com/

Election America: http://election-america.com/

This list is subject to change. Please check with the President’s office before conducting electronic balloting to confirm that the vendor you intend to use is still on the list.

Orchestra Committees
Music Business, Resources

The Role of Orchestra Committees

by Christopher Durham, Chief Field Negotiator, AFM Symphonic Services Divisionby Christopher Durham, Chief Field Negotiator, AFM Symphonic Services Division

Employees who work under the terms of a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) are represented by a labor union that was authorized by the first employees who worked under the original agreement. When the union was established, the membership elected officers to handle the negotiation, enforcement, and administration of the agreement. Other union responsibilities and procedures are prescribed by either law or internal bylaw. The musicians who perform in orchestras elect orchestra committees and ancillary committees to assist the union in the negotiation, enforcement, and administration of the agreement.

This structure, while common in our union, is somewhat unique to the labor movement. Over time, symphonic bargaining units have assumed, through their various committees, a prominent role in the day-to-day governance of the agreements. A consequence of this expanded role should not be to disregard, ignore, or place the union in a subordinate role. The union, as the certified bargaining agent, has the legal responsibility to oversee the performance of the agreement as well as the liability for the action of its agents. It’s important to have an effective working relationship between a rank-and-file committee and the union in order to provide strength through communication and unity. The union is the pivot for members who may not work in the bargaining unit. It has important relationships in the greater community that, when properly networked, can make the difference by providing outside influence during times of hard bargaining.

Orchestra committees who seek the authority to administer the agreement must also acknowledge the responsibility and liability for decisions made under their watch. There is no hiding, denying, or abstaining from the same duty of fair representation that is expected from the union. Symphony orchestra committees are not your fathers’ civic or fraternal organizations, where you serve your time or complete your project and all is well. Representing the business interests of your colleagues and their families is a huge responsibility.

In all matters relating to the agreement, the committee must measure when and what to report to the membership. It is responsible for handling day-to-day business, including variances, and processing and investigating grievances in a timely and thorough manner. Committees must also bring experience to the bargaining table. They are responsible, by their recommendation, for directing the unit to accept or reject tentative agreements or final offers. Committee members don’t have the luxury to pick and choose the grievances that they want to handle nor to limit themselves to decisions that won’t cause confrontation. Conversely, the rank and file is well-advised to listen to the debate respectfully and to not attack a committee they have elected when it is serving in their best interest.