Conceived and spearheaded by the Musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra, with the support of The Musical Arts Association, and the co-operation of The New World Symphony.
CLEVELAND, January 19, 2010 – The Musicians’ Union and Management of The Cleveland Orchestra reached an agreement early this morning for a new three-year contract through September 2, 2012.
The agreement calls for a two-year wage freeze through August 2011, followed by semi-annual wage increases of 3% and 2% in the subsequent year. In addition, the Musicians will donate up to 10 services, which will provide cost relief and additional revenue for the Musical Arts Association. Musicians will increase their medical premium contribution beginning in July 2011.
The agreement was announced by the Musicians’ Committee Chairman, Jeffrey Rathbun, and the Orchestra’s Executive Director, Gary Hanson.
Mr. Rathbun said, “We are very happy that management has heard our message and agreed not to further erode our base compensation allowing us to stay as competitive as possible with the marketplace. We look forward to working together to build our base of support and continue our tradition of excellence.”
Mr. Hanson said, “Both sides worked effectively through a difficult process to reach an unprecedented agreement that will do much to help the Association’s finances going forward. I am very grateful for the Musicians’ passion and abiding concern for the Orchestra’s artistic excellence.”
The agreement was ratified by the musicians on Tuesday afternoon at Severance Hall. The agreement brings an end to a strike by the Union representing the musicians, Local 4 of the American Federation of Musicians, which began at midnight on January 18. The short strike caused the postponement of a scheduled Residency by the Orchestra at Indiana University. The Orchestra’s Miami Residency performances will proceed as scheduled.
The Orchestra Committee negotiating on behalf of the Musicians also included Mary Kay Fink, Eli Matthews, Jonathan Sherwin, and Paul Yancich, represented by attorney Bruce Simon. The negotiating team for Management included Gary Ginstling, James Menger, and Karen Tucholski, represented by attorney Frank Buck.
Negotiations were assisted by FMCS Mediators Jack Buettner and Laura Shepard, who provided tireless and invaluable service in helping the parties reach agreement.
The following is a statement from the Musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra
January 17, 2010
You may quote Jeffrey Rathbun, oboist and chair of the musicians’ negotiating committee
As musicians, going on strike was never something we imagined when we were in music school, and certainly not when we were fortunate enough to be selected to join the legendary Cleveland Orchestra. We expected this to be the last and best job we would ever have. Unfortunately, in recent times that has not been the case.
We are sorely disappointed that management has not acknowledged the sacrifices we have made in compensation and benefits in our last two contracts, or our offer to continue to work for the next contract year with no increase in salary or benefits. They want more cuts. They have taken reductions and say we need to feel the pain yet again — “shared sacrifice” they call it — going beyond the impact we’ve been feeling from the concessions we gave in our last two contract negotiations. We may be considered to be amongst the best in the world musically, but we are a far cry from being compensated that way or treated that way. In our judgment, if we were to accept management’s offer it would be the beginning of the end of The Cleveland Orchestra as one of the leading ensembles in the world.
To remain competitive, and to retain the great players we have, we can’t keep slipping behind. Our reputation is at stake and we have to stay competitive in compensation in order to stay competitive in quality. Our decision to strike is not about the money in the short term. It’s about the integrity of our brand; our reputation as musicians and our pride in representing our home town, Cleveland, Ohio, as we perform around the country and around the world. As one of our members said in a recent meeting, “I came here to play with The Cleveland Orchestra, not some orchestra in Cleveland.”
We are officially on strike effective at midnight tonight. Starting tomorrow we will be picketing in front of our beautiful home, Severance Hall. The acoustics of the hall are amongst the best in the world so we expect our protest to reverberate loudly and, hopefully, to resonate with music lovers everywhere.
We regret that it appears we will not be going to our residency at Indiana University and we send apologies to the students, faculty and alumni. We also regret that we will not be playing in our winter home at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and trust that our friends and supporters in Miami understand that if we played, it would be a great series of concerts in the short term and the beginning of the end of the quality that they, and people everywhere, have come to expect from The Cleveland Orchestra.
“Regrettable things get said in the public-relations battlefield of orchestra negotiations, but it’s curious for management to suggest that it’s paying players for the hours they work rather than the talent they possess, which isn’t very smart when you’re in the business of promoting the idea that what you have is the best.”
- Peter Dobrin, Philadelphia Inquirer Music Critic
Thank you for your support of The Cleveland Orchestra.
Each of us on the stage is one of the best musicians there is on our particular instrument. We won our positions in this orchestra after highly competitive auditions. But it’s not just our individual talent that makes The Cleveland Orchestra one of the best in the world. It’s our commitment to quality and musical integrity, both individually and collectively.
Today we find ourselves at a turning point in our careers as musicians. Over the past decade, while the Musical Arts Association has promoted us around the world as “the best,” our standing in compensation among American orchestras, both in salary and benefits, has slipped from the top tier to the second tier. As we all know, no company can keep its employees, much less recruit new talent, without paying a competitive wage, particularly when these same people are being recruited by other orchestras, ensembles, music schools and other venues on a regular basis.
We understand that these are unprecedented economic times in America and that all arts organizations are feeling the brunt of the recession with a decline in attendance, in annual giving and in their endowments. We are being told by our management that we have to accept a cut in both salary and benefits, because they have shown their willingness to share in the financial sacrifice. In point of fact, we have given concessions in our last two contracts both with pay freezes and drastic reductions in benefits. It is because of these reductions that we’ve slipped so far. We never used to pay our healthcare premiums. Now we share in the cost. We used to have a defined benefit retirement plan. Now we have no guaranteed benefit, and our investments in the stock market have taken the same hit as MAA’s endowment fund, in some cases more. We also have fewer opportunities for royalties and other sources of income from our work with the orchestra.
We’re not complaining. In fact, we’re proud that we have been partners with management in finding creative ways to keep the quality of our music at the top in a fiscally responsible way. Unfortunately, if we accept MAA’s current offer to us, we believe it will be the beginning of the end of the international reputation of The Cleveland Orchestra. We’re at the tipping point. As one of our members said in a recent meeting, “I came here to play with The Cleveland Orchestra, not some orchestra in Cleveland.” If we become just some orchestra in Cleveland, I doubt that you will want to continue to hear us play.
We applaud our Music Director, Franz Welser-Möst, for his passion and his commitment to quality; also our marketing department for promoting us as “the best” wherever we travel. Although our advertising praises us in print, our management belittles us when they meet with us, for example telling people in a press release that we work only 20 hours a week. Talk about an insult; if we worked only those hours you can be sure we wouldn’t sound like The Cleveland Orchestra. Look at it this way: given the same price for a ticket, would you rather pay to see the original Broadway cast of “Les Misérables” or see the third generation road show? By the same token, would you rather hear Beethoven’s 9th Symphony played by The Cleveland Orchestra or by some orchestra in Cleveland?
Again, thank you for your support of The Cleveland Orchestra.
What’s at stake here is holding onto one of the few – one or two or three – institutions in Cleveland that can truly be listed among the best in the world.
– Cleveland Magazine
Mr. Dennis La Barre
President
Board of the Cleveland Orchestra
Severance Hall
11001 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44106-1713
Mr. Gary Hanson
Chief Executive Officer
Musical Arts Association
Severance Hall
11001 Euclid Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44106-1713
Dear Mr. La Barre and Mr. Hanson:
I strongly oppose any effort by the Musical Arts Association (MAA) to force the musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra to take an unreasonable and unwarranted 5% pay cut following already significant reductions in their health care and retirement plans. I urge you to resume meaningful negotiations with the musicians and ensure their compensation package is sufficiently competitive to maintain or increase the caliber of the Cleveland Orchestra.
It is my understanding the workers have agreed to take a one-year salary freeze, and that the MAA has refused this offer. Furthermore, I am told that the proposed 5% pay cut would increase the gap in annual compensation between the Cleveland Orchestra and other top ranked orchestras in the United States to over $15,000 in the next few years.
As you know, the Cleveland Orchestra has long been one of the top orchestras in the nation. Following significant reductions in salary and benefits over the past few years, the Orchestra’s standing has slipped compared to orchestras across the country. I am concerned that without a top-tier compensation package, the Cleveland Orchestra will be unable to recruit or retain world class musicians.
The Musical Arts Association has an obligation to the musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra and to the Greater Cleveland Community to ensure the Cleveland Orchestra’s continued excellence. The future of the Cleveland Orchestra is at stake. I urge you to negotiate in good faith with the musicians.
Sincerely,
Dennis J Kucinich
Member of Congress
(Download PDF of the original letter from Congressman Dennis Kucinich)
Letter to the Editor, Cleveland Plain Dealer
13 January 2010
One of the things that drew me to move to Cleveland was the greatness of the Cleveland Orchestra. If that greatness is diminished in any way, it will negatively impact this community in incalculable ways.
Let me share with you what I know about orchestra musicians- they are highly trained and conditioned athletes. Most began their musical schooling when their parents still had to hold their hands when they crossed the street. Even after winning their highly competitive positions in the Cleveland Orchestra, they continue to hone their skills some 40 to 60 hours per week, not the 20 hours per week that was recently published. Not a single one of them would keep their coveted jobs if they only played their instruments the hours they are required to be on stage. Does LeBron James play basketball two hours a day only at games?
Many of these orchestra musicians own instruments that cost more than their home mortgages. This labor dispute is not between the orchestra musicians and the management or the board, this dispute is between the arts and our region. Decades ago, the citizens of Cleveland decided that they would support one of the world’s best orchestras, if not the world’s best orchestra. It is up to the philanthropy of those in this community who believe in what this orchestra and all of the arts bring to the region who need to step forward and support what is truly theirs- the musicians of the great Cleveland Orchestra.
A silent concert hall is a terrible place. Don’t let that happen in your own back yard.
Peter Landgren
Conservatory Director
Baldwin-Wallace College
Former Associate Principal Horn
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
I’m just a musician. I’m not a lawyer, a statistician, a businesswoman, a fundraiser or an arts manager. I do not come armed with statistics about other orchestras, other businesses, and other non-profit organizations, although I, as well as the community at large, have been bombarded with unsavory news regarding the economic downturn.
But I do know one thing. The Cleveland Orchestra is not, as one colleague so astutely voiced at a recent meeting, an orchestra in Cleveland. The Cleveland Orchestra is a local, national, and international cultural gem, a true ambassador for Cleveland which serves to represent our city’s and our country’s cultural and musical standards. It is comprised of musicians from all over the world who have dedicated, not 20 hours a week, but their entire lives, many since the age of 3 or 5 (like me) to being the most competitive artists for the top-notch, internationally recognized institutions. Many of us spent summers from the age of 10 or 12 in summer music programs, practicing 4-6 hours a day, playing in orchestra, playing chamber music, studying with the most eminent teachers and performers of our time. Then, those of us who continued on into musical careers, attended the most competitive schools in existence, practiciing 4-8 hours a day, continuing in prestigious summer programs, and training for weeks, months, and years, to enter into the orchestral world. I believe that it is essential for our management, the Musical Arts Association, who books us in the most sought-after concert halls in the world such as Carnegie Hall, the Musikverein in Vienna, the Salzburg and Lucerne Festivals, the London Proms, the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, and many more, to prioritize the well-being and profile, both in the way of remuneration and benefits, of the musicians of The Cleveland Orchestra. A modest and reasonable request for a temporary pay and benefits freeze should be met with gratitude and cooperation. If we work together, the sky’s the limit!
I respectfully and gratefully acknowledge the shared sacrifice of our colleagues on the staff, in management positions of different kinds, and of our music director, Franz Welser-Most, who generously committed to a percentage cut during 2009. But, being the outstanding musician that he is, with the ears, mind, talent and dedication to this Orchestra that he has displayed since day 1, he would be terribly disillusioned by a dwindling of his recent audition winners and of other talented musicians who would be snapped up by institutions with more satisfying working conditions. The decline in remuneration and accompanying benefits precedes the artistic decline and the latter will be an eventual inevitability. And the community of Cleveland will be the first to suffer.
One of our most esteemed and frequent guest conductors with whom we won a Grammy Award some years ago, received our applause with the comment, “but what is a conductor without an orchestra?” In our industry, no truer words have been spoken!
Carolyn Gadiel Warner
Violinist and Pianist, member of TCO since 1979
The Cleveland Duo/The Cleveland Duo and James Umble