Klarinet Archive - Posting 001177.txt from 2000/10

From: Phil Shapiro <pshapiro@-----.com>
Subj: Re: [kl] Florida Philharmonic
Date: Mon, 23 Oct 2000 23:37:45 -0400

My wife is in this orchestra, so I am fairly close to this. I would
like to add a few points to David's post that never made it into the
press...

1) The management never once negotiated with the players. All they did
was offer a series of "take-it-or-leave-it" contracts. Not once did
they even read the players proposals, for all we can tell.

2) Management REMOVED 19 sections and clauses from the contract. None
of the removed items were new proposals. They were part of a contract
that the musicians struggled for 18 years to build. The final agreement
still has 11 of the nineteen removed items. Including a total gutting
of the tenure clause, which was previously one of the country's finest.

3) The raise (27% over 5 years) is likely to be offset by the
management's newly reconfigured insurance deductions from the musicians
pay. Assuming a 2-4% increase in musicians contributions to the
premium, the raise becomes mere a COLA. At the end of the 5 year
contract the musicians pay will be around $47,000 annually, only about
15 years behind where they should be. Other orchestras at the
philharmonic's level (Atlanta, for example) will be in the near $70's.

4) Judd's wonderful offer to "donate" a years salary is actually not
what it seems. He will give back $50,000 annually for 5 years adding up
to the $250,000 figure. However, his pay is actually around $300,000.
And, be sure there will be an increase in his pay to offset the $50,000.
There was the last time he "donated" some of his fee to the orchestra.

5) Rehearsals begin Tuesday and performances resume on Wednesday. A
suspiciously quick turn-around for a canceled season, don't you think??

6) So the musicians get to eat. Mostly crow, I think.

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