ASO’s federal mediation stalled after just two days of negotiation
October 16, 2014
By Jenny Jarvie
Federal mediation in the bitter labor dispute between Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s management and musicians appears to have stalled after only two days of negotiations last week.
The musicians — who have been locked out of symphony facilities almost six weeks without pay — vented their frustration with management yesterday evening in a letter to the ASO’s board of directors. They said the federal mediation process was halted last Thursday after only two days of meetings when representatives of the orchestra’s parent organization, the Woodruff Arts Center, said they had to consult its governing board for further guidance and instruction.
WAC spokesman Randy Donaldson has not responded to a request for comment.
After waiting a week for negotiations to resume, the musicians said that federal mediator Allison Beck — acting director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service — informed them there would be no further meetings this week. Beck will be away for a week beginning today. Her colleague, Richard Giacolone, will remain available in the event that WAC’s negotiators — including legal counsel Tom Kilpatrick of Alston & Bird and WAC president and CEO Virginia Hepner — return to the table to work out a potential settlement.
The federal mediation process requires that neither side speaks to the media. In their email to the ASO board, the musicians called WAC’s actions “disappointing.” The musicians said that after clearing their schedules, and even turning down offers of work in the hope of resolving the dispute, they continue to wait for WAC to “stop wasting precious time.”
“The damage already wrought by the WAC — the very institution entrusted with the stewardship of Atlanta’s cultural pride — will take years to reverse,” the musicians warned the ASO board. “But it can be reversed, and must be.”
October 16, 2014
By Jenny Jarvie
Federal mediation in the bitter labor dispute between Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s management and musicians appears to have stalled after only two days of negotiations last week.
The musicians — who have been locked out of symphony facilities almost six weeks without pay — vented their frustration with management yesterday evening in a letter to the ASO’s board of directors. They said the federal mediation process was halted last Thursday after only two days of meetings when representatives of the orchestra’s parent organization, the Woodruff Arts Center, said they had to consult its governing board for further guidance and instruction.
WAC spokesman Randy Donaldson has not responded to a request for comment.
After waiting a week for negotiations to resume, the musicians said that federal mediator Allison Beck — acting director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service — informed them there would be no further meetings this week. Beck will be away for a week beginning today. Her colleague, Richard Giacolone, will remain available in the event that WAC’s negotiators — including legal counsel Tom Kilpatrick of Alston & Bird and WAC president and CEO Virginia Hepner — return to the table to work out a potential settlement.
The federal mediation process requires that neither side speaks to the media. In their email to the ASO board, the musicians called WAC’s actions “disappointing.” The musicians said that after clearing their schedules, and even turning down offers of work in the hope of resolving the dispute, they continue to wait for WAC to “stop wasting precious time.”
“The damage already wrought by the WAC — the very institution entrusted with the stewardship of Atlanta’s cultural pride — will take years to reverse,” the musicians warned the ASO board. “But it can be reversed, and must be.”