Posted on 02/20/2011 12:14:42 PM PST by HIDEK6
The management of the debt-burdened Detroit Symphony Orchestra canceled the rest of its season on Saturday, after executives and the players failed to resolve a strike that has lasted four and a half months. The players had voted to reject what orchestra executives had said was their final contract offer, calling it unacceptable. The players pointed to large increases in health care costs, a requirement that musicians pay some travel costs, a one-member reduction of the orchestra roster and greater authority by management in determining community and educational concerts. The proposal also included large pay cuts. The musicians had said they were open to lesser pay cuts. Negotiations went on last week and included mediation by Senator Carl Levin of Michigan and Dan Gilbert, the owner of Quicken Loans. In a press release posted on its Web site, the orchestra’s management said it had “reluctantly released artists and conductors from their contracts and suspended all remaining orchestral concerts through June.” But executives left open the possibility that some concerts could be rescheduled and that the summer season could go forward “pending a settlement.” The orchestra said patrons could request refunds, donate their tickets, ask for vouchers for future concerts or exchange tickets for other musical events at its Max M. Fisher Music Center.
(Excerpt) Read more at artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com ...
Of course they are; it's "Free Medical Care for everyone".....
Unions, of course, will be "exempted"..
That probably factored into the union's negotiating strategery... who'd want to work in Detroit?
Yup. As an ex-canuck, I used to accompany my cousins from Montreal to NYC and during my HS days, did drive with them using that bridge. It looked like a warzone back then and highly doubt it would change into Beverly Hills overnight.
I’ve never even heard of Detroit having an orchestra until today LOL.
There's no supermarket?
Sad, but as I like to remind my artist friends, art is what you do after you’ve got dinner on the table. Planning to make a living at it is delusional.
Come to think of it, maybe I should strike. I got $25 for my last banjo gig, that hardly seems enough for a sensative soul such as myself. After all, I am an Appalachan folk singer. Used to be a hillbilly with a banjo, but they don’t get paid at all.
Sure, but what if they take their turntables with them?
Paray and Doráti must be spinning in their graves. How pathetic the culture of entitlements has become.
SOs are going out of business all over the country.
Not exactly a vital industry, especially when times are tight. Talented but no common sense. And I luv classical music, especially opera - don’t have to have live performances though.
We should have known, there is a Union involved: “Detroit Federation of Musicians”
See their “Strike Update” at: http://www.detroitmusicians.net/
The Members should come back to Management and BEG for their jobs without the Union!
Well since they decided to strike and Detroit Symphony Orchestra events were canceled, they will now have no pay check...I am sure they are saying to themselves right about now...WHAT HAPPENED?... Oh well suckers, you lose!
Good for management!
Why would anyone, with even a smallest bit of talent like orchestra members, stay in a failing city like Detroit?
JoMa
It’s true. Detroit proper does not have a chain supermarket in its city limits. The chains can’t justify the cost of security.
The backup gig for a symphony musician: “Would you like fries with that?”
Colonel, USAFR
I don’t know about Detroit, but Newark NJ just got its first chain supermarket in decades only a few years ago. The theft is so high it is impossible to operate them; in Newark they had to take buses (or often walk) to the surrounding suburbs to find supermarkets. Scads of them were arrested shoplifting there instead.
It's hard to believe a city like that with so many abandoned buildings exists in the USA.
Senator Carl Levin lost the Detroit Symphony. How in the h*ll does this hack keep getting elected?
I think union members are being misled by union leadership.
Union leadership is dedicated to the Obama set of lies that the economy is improving, that there is no recession and that healthcare has been fixed. With rose colored glasses, the union leadership holds out for more than the market could possibly bear.
Forgot about Newark.
I often fly from Newark Airport, but I wouldn't think of going to Newark, itself.
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