By Howard Pousner
hpousner@ajc.com

Atlanta Symphony Orchestra musicians have offered to cut their compensation by 11 percent to help balanced the organization’s annual budget, but there is a catch: They want the ASO staff to take an equal cut.

Facing a deadline of midnight Aug. 25 to reach agreement with ASO management on a new collective bargaining agreement, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Players Committee (ASOPA) met with management representatives on Wednesday. In a statement released Wednesday evening, the players said they submitted a broad-ranging proposal that would be sufficient to cover the orchestra’s projected shortfalls for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.

Read more
http://blogs.ajc.com/arts-culture/2012/08/15/atlanta-symphony-musicians-ask-administration-to-share-in-salary-cuts/

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

CONTACT: Colin Williams (404) 275-4997 colbone@me.com www.ATLsymphonymusicians.com 
Facebook: ATLSymphonyMusicians 
Twitter: @ATLSymMusicians

Atlanta Symphony Musicians Offer $2.8 Million

to Close Budget Gap Administration Challenged to Match Musicians’ Compensation Cuts

Atlanta, GA, August 15, 2012 7:00 PM

Today the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Players Committee (ASOPA) met with members of the Atlanta Symphony Management negotiating team to come to terms for a new collective bargaining agreement.

ASOPA offered a comprehensive proposal which includes enough modification in musician compensation to cover the orchestra’s projected shortfall for the 2012-13 season and extended them for a second year as well.

“We have offered to reduce the size of the orchestra, reduce the individual compensation of musicians, reduce the number of work weeks, and share health care costs with management. Our comprehensive solution calls for the staff to share the reduction with us in the coming seasons to help stabilize the future of this great orchestra,” explained cellist and ASOPA President Daniel Laufer.

The musicians propose that total musician compensation and total staff compensation each be reduced by 11%. They specifically ask the senior staff members to share in this reduction from their individual salaries so as to avoid placing undue burden on junior and part-time staffers. This would save almost $5 million over two years.

“The significance of shared sacrifice cannot be overstated,” said Colin Williams, ASOPA spokesperson and principal trombonist. “This proposal represents a shared contribution to balance the budget.”

Recent statements by the management team suggest that growth in musician compensation is the primary reason for the deficit. “Since 2006, total staff compensationhas increased by almost 50%, while total musician compensation has only increased by 16%, just keeping up with inflation. This means that we must all play our part in reigning in costs,” explained Colin Williams.

Between 2006 and 2012, total staff compensation grew from about $4 million to $6 million, a 50% increase. This doesn't even include nearly $1 million in salaries/benefits for Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre staff, or a similar amount spent on salaries/benefits for the abandoned Symphony Center project in 2006 alone. Musician expenses are only 28% of the budget. Especially given the growth in staff compensation, musicians cannot be the sole source of cost reduction.

As part of this 50% increase in management compensation, management and staff received almost $400,000 in bonuses between 2008 and 2012. For example, according to the Woodruff Arts Center’s 2010 IRS Form 990, ASO Executive Vice President for Business Operations and Chief Financial Officer Don Fox was paid almost $300,000, including a $20,000 bonus, while deficits mounted. This represented a $30,000 increase over the previous year.

“Musicians are willing to be part of the solution. As of today we have put close to $3 million of musician cost reductions on the table, which address every aspect of what we do: salary, orchestra size, number of paid weeks, and cost sharing of health insurance. But we cannot be the only solution when staff have not participated in cost reductions and management has not presented any cogent plans to remedy the situation other than diminishing the product,” stressed Williams.

Colin Williams is available for interviews at the phone number and e-mail address above.

Paul Pelkonen, aka super-conductor.blogspot.com write of the ASO negotiations on his blog:

"The plague of cutbacks and labor unrest that has visited orchestras across North America has now made its way south. At the Woodruff Center for the Arts in Atlanta, GA, an ugly confrontation is brewing between the Board of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and the musicians of that ensemble."

Read more.

Norman Lebrecht, of the Arts Journal, writes again about our situation at the ASO:

"Musicians of the ASO have written a reasoned letter to their board, telling them that the ensemble is quickly gurgling down the drain. The musicians are being asked to take a 25 percent pay cut, on top of prior concessions, as the orch faces a $20 million deficit. 

They report that many of their number are looking for other jobs, and that Atlanta can no longer attract the calibre of musicians it requires to remain a frontline contender.

At a recent ASO audition, only one-third of the usual number of candidates appeared, none of whom was qualified for even a temporary position. Numerous orchestra members are preparing for auditions elsewhere. Three have been invited to play with the New York Philharmonic this coming season, and may not return."

Read more

Norman Lebrecht of the Arts Journal writes:

"Players are being urged to take a $20,000 pay cut each to help the orch cope with a spiralling debt that has risen from $1.1 million nine years ago to a projected $19.8 million next year. The board says its problems stem from an infkated wage bill, based on the last player agreement, negotiated four years ago, giving the players an $88,41o base salary.

Who negotiated that agreement, and then lit out in 2010 when the going got tough?"

Read more

Journalist, Howard Pousner, of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution brings to light the current negotiations between the management and musicians of the ASO.

"The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's 2012-13 season brochure trumpets "magic moments" where "time stands still" and "your heart and mind are tuned only to the aching beauty and unbounded serenity of the world's greatest music."

But behind the scenes, as the ASO approaches the opening of its 68th season on Oct. 4 while facing increasingly dire finances, the tempo of tension is accelerating. The serenity of music-making, the brochure's purple prose aside, would appear in the process of meeting its bounds."


Read more:
http://tinyurl.com/cfkqv54