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New Broadway Update

Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2003-02-15 04:20

Here's the latest on the Broadway negociations:
"WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE LOCAL 802 - NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE

Where do things stand in the negotiations?
The League cancelled scheduled negotiating dates in January. Talks finally began on February 4th and so far two full sessions have taken place. Negotiating dates are scheduled through the month of February. The contract expires on March 2, 2003.

Now that talks have begun, are there at least good faith efforts to find a settlement?
Local 802 continues to hear about stepped up efforts across the country to recruit scabs to run virtual orchestras on Broadway after March 2. In a NY Post story on the negotiations on Friday, February 7th, an unnamed "theatre executive" threatened, "we'll lock them all out." The union has also learned that a special $.10 per ticket dues assessment that will run through the beginning of next year has been imposed on League members for the fight against Local 802.
Only days before the first negotiating session, the League took the unprecedented step of filing a "Unit Clarification Petition" with the National Labor Relations Board, seeking to exclude music copyists from the bargaining unit. This action would deprive music copyists of health insurance and pension benefits. These actions do not suggest good faith efforts to reach a settlement.

The Producers say they want "the artists to decide" musical issues. What's wrong with that?
In a full-page ad placed in the New York Times last Friday, the League said they want the "artists to decide" on orchestra sizes. Unfortunately, that is not true. If it were, a new contract could be finalized tomorrow. Nearly all the "artists" they speak of - composers, orchestrators, arrangers, music directors and conductors - are members of Local 802 and are covered by the
Local 802 contract. These artists tell us over and over again, that without orchestra minimums, they would be forced to use fewer musicians than needed.
Jonathan Tunick, the orchestrator for many of Stephen Sondheim's musicals,told the New York Times, "We are concerned that some producers will want to decimate or even eliminate the orchestra from the theatre." He added, "We're trying to keep a tradition alive, a tradition of music played by people."
The producers are demanding the removal of the very mechanism in the current contract that allows artists like Sondheim and Tunick to have some say over orchestra sizes.

Don't the Producers already have the option of using smaller orchestras when they are needed?
YES! It's called the "Special Situations" clause in the Musicians' union contract and it allows for smaller orchestras whenever required by the musical needs of a show. Over the last 10 years, the Producers asked for smaller orchestras for 18 shows and either dropped their request or got the smaller orchestra in 15 of the 18 cases. Shows like Smokey Joe’s Cafe, High Society, Footloose, Swing, Aida and Mamma Mia were all done with smaller
orchestras. If Producers are not serious about allowing artists to make artistic decisions, what is the real issue?
In a word - Profit! We all know that the business of Broadway is making money. While that's not necessarily a bad thing, it cannot be the only thing guiding decisions about cast, crew or orchestra sizes. Broadway's success depends upon quality. The degradation of that quality would hurt all of us who work in the theatre. The Producers and Theater owners have made extraordinary profits on Broadway over the last decade. Their effort to take
away the very limited artistic discretion currently enjoyed by composers, orchestrators, arrangers, and music directors, to generate an even higher rate of profit are unconscionable - and they threaten the continued viability of musical theatre, an important source of employment for all of us who work on Broadway.

Written petition drive
We've had a great response to our online petition, but not everyone goes online. Some musicians have put hardcopy petitions (see attachment below) up in their buildings and the response to those has also been tremendous. We'd like to encourage those of you in apartments to do this. One person ended up with a bunch of her neighbors gathering on their way in and out and expressing their incredulity - you might have some good interaction that way. If there is a neighborhood business you frequent, do the same (with
permission , of course). Print out some copies of the petition and post them. Best way would be on a clipboard with a pen attached. The more sheets you have, the less often you'll have to check and retrieve full ones. (Good if it's in a store or someplace you don't go every day.) . How about spouse's place of business?, etc. If you're comfortable putting your phone# - "IF FULL, CALL ###-####" , that might be a good idea. Otherwise check up on them from time to time. This is a very easy way to pitch in. Thanks!
----in your apartment building
----in neighborhood stores
----at your spouse's place of work
----at the school/university where you teach

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