Klarinet Archive - Posting 000600.txt from 1999/11
From: "Jim O'Briant" <jobriant@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Atlanta Ballet Orchestra Strike Update
Date: Mon, 15 Nov 1999 16:37:55 -0500
Here is information that was posted today on the Trombone-L Mailing List,
regarding the current musicians' strike against the Atlanta Ballet. There
are two press releases.
#1
===================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Julie Buenrostro
(770) 432 7178
Fax (770) 438 7370
jbuenrostro@-----.com
Atlanta Ballet Hiring Replacements for Striking Orchestra
ATLANTA, GA - November 10, 1999 - In an unprecedented move, management of
The Atlanta Ballet has decided to replace its striking orchestra musicians.
Management has extended offers to non-union musicians in Florida and New
York to assemble an orchestra for the Ballet's upcoming Nutcracker series.
The offers include payment of the replacement musicians' travel costs and
per diem expenses. The regular Ballet musicians, represented by the
Atlanta Federation of Musicians, have been on strike since September over
management's demand for unrestricted use of taped music and its refusal to
make any retirement contribution to the musicians' pension fund.
All of the other professional musical organizations in Atlanta, including
the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Opera, Gwinnett Philharmonic, and
Atlanta Chamber Players, provide for pension contributions - only the
Atlanta Ballet refuses to provide a pension for its musicians. The Ballet
rejected the musicians' last bargaining proposal, which called for a modest
5% contribution in the last year of a multi-year agreement. The average
Ballet musician earns approximately $5000 annually from Ballet employment.
Management also demanded the unlimited right to use taped music in place of
a live orchestra. The musicians were willing to allow the use of taped
music in venues where employment of a full orchestra was difficult, in
experimental pieces, or where the production required a tape.
It is not likely that Ballet management will be able to hire a quality
replacement orchestra. Almost all professional musicians in the United
States are members of the musicians' union and will not cross the union's
picket lines. The Ballet's management is betting that its patrons will not
notice or care that the quality of the Ballet's music must obviously
suffer. The Ballet's management team is relatively new and is comprised of
bureaucrats from outside of Georgia's arts institutions.
Mark McConnell, chair of the musicians' negotiating committee, stated, "It
is very sad that management is willing to toss out this beloved Atlanta
institution that has performed for decades for thousands of Atlanta
patrons. At a time when the Atlanta Ballet should be continuing to build a
world class ballet troupe, they have chosen instead to obtain a ragtag
group of musicians who have never played together, and who require the
additional cost of travel, per diem and housing."
The Ballet's Nutcracker is scheduled to begin on December 2 at the Fox
Theatre in Atlanta. The striking musicians intend to continue their picket
of all performances.
#2
===================
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Julie Buenrostro
(770) 432 7178
Fax (770) 438 7370
jbuenrostro@-----.com
Atlanta Ballet Seeking Local Students For Orchestra
ATLANTA, GA - November 14, 1999 - The Atlanta Ballet has begun calling
local students, some of them in high-school, to replace the striking
musicians of the Atlanta Ballet Orchestra for the upcoming Nutcracker
holiday series. Some of these young musicians are students of the strikers.
The striking musicians note the irony that while they are on strike to
obtain a modest retirement pension contribution, the Atlanta Ballet is
hiring children to replace them.
The Atlanta Ballet, in a statement given to a television reporter on
Friday, November 12, stated that any replacements for the Atlanta Ballet
Orchestra will be "accomplished professional musicians."
Mark McConnell, chair of the musician's negotiating committee, stated,
"While many of these kids are good students, making them cross their'
teachers' picket line is not a good and rewarding musical experience, nor
is it career-enhancing. Almost all successful, professional musicians are
members of the musicians' union, for good reason. Management's injecting
children into the middle of this labor dispute is simply shameful."
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