ASO lockout 'damaging to everybody' Posted by John Ruch @JohnRuchAtlanta on Mon, Sep 15, 2014 at 11:55 AM
The future looks grim for ASO’s 70th anniversary season, slated to kick off Sept. 25. Last week, the musicians came together, not to play Mozart, but to march a picket line at the Woodruff Arts Center, ASO’s parent organization. With ASO management choosing the hardball tactic of a lockout, the sides weren’t talking as of Friday, and couldn’t even agree on bringing in a federal mediator.
“It’s appalling that we are locked out for the second time in two years,” says Jessica Oudin, a viola section player who reps the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Players Association in labor talks. “At this time, no further meetings are scheduled … because management has not shown a willingness to budge.”
The musicians face a loss of pay and health insurance, but if the season is cut short, that will be “damaging to everybody,” Oudin says.
WAC spokeswoman Holly Hanchey told CL she can’t comment on the ASO labor situation and couldn’t immediately provide anyone who could.
A statement on the ASO website says, “Management remains committed to keeping the dialogue going and bargaining in good faith so that we can work toward a resolution that will ensure that the music will go on. Management wants to assure a vibrant classical music community that can thrive for decades to come.”
But that dialogue isn’t ongoing - including on ASO’s Facebook page. After hundreds of mostly anti-management comments were posted, ASO disabled commenting due to what it called “hateful language, personal attacks and misinformation.”
“It’s appalling that we are locked out for the second time in two years,” says Jessica Oudin, a viola section player who reps the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Players Association in labor talks. “At this time, no further meetings are scheduled … because management has not shown a willingness to budge.”
The musicians face a loss of pay and health insurance, but if the season is cut short, that will be “damaging to everybody,” Oudin says.
WAC spokeswoman Holly Hanchey told CL she can’t comment on the ASO labor situation and couldn’t immediately provide anyone who could.
A statement on the ASO website says, “Management remains committed to keeping the dialogue going and bargaining in good faith so that we can work toward a resolution that will ensure that the music will go on. Management wants to assure a vibrant classical music community that can thrive for decades to come.”
But that dialogue isn’t ongoing - including on ASO’s Facebook page. After hundreds of mostly anti-management comments were posted, ASO disabled commenting due to what it called “hateful language, personal attacks and misinformation.”
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