DSO musicians set to strike today
Two sides remain far apart; season would begin Thursday
Michael H. Hodges / Detroit News Arts Writer
Musicians with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra will be picketing Orchestra Hall this morning.
Negotiations in this summer of labor discontent have been spotty. The world-class orchestra and management held discussions once in August, and then again Sept. 24. Despite the presence of federal, state and local mediators, that latter session broke down with no movement and each side accusing the other of intransigence. At that point, the union announced today's strike.
DSO musicians last struck in 1987 for 12 weeks, one of the longest strikes at any major American orchestra.
While everyone agrees the musicians have to sacrifice to keep the orchestra alive, the two sides couldn't be farther apart in their views.
"We said we'd be willing to settle somewhere in the middle," said union spokesman Haden McKay, a cellist. "The strike will have a lot of fallout, but the offer was so extreme and drastic that we didn't feel we could accept it and preserve the quality of the orchestra."
Citing an impasse, management on Sunday imposed an offer that cuts musicians' base pay 33 percent, from $104,650 to $70,200 -- largely achieved through 16 unpaid weeks each year of the contract. In the third year, base pay would rise to $73,800.
The musicians union has offered a 22 percent cut to $82,000 the first year, with 11 layoff weeks the first year and six weeks by contract's end.
The new contract also establishes a two-tier pay scale, much as the car companies have done, with new hires entering at a salary of $63,000.
However, DSO President and Executive Director Anne Parsons said management has "offered to adjust the package within the financial parameters."
Those parameters include a three-year budget of $33 million for orchestra costs, largely the musicians' salaries and benefits.
McKay said that offering to change specifics within those parameters would just mean shifting pain from one place to another, cutting more benefits instead of pay, for example. "You tell me if that's being flexible or not," he said.
Deficit looms
Even with a $33 million budget, Parsons said the DSO could run a $1.4 million deficit next year. Deficits have been a persistent problem. The organization posted a $6.5 million deficit this year and $3.8 million the prior year.
Also complicating the orchestra's financial picture are bank loans totaling $54 million on the Max M. Fisher Music Center and Orchestra Place. The orchestra has said it is trying to renegotiate terms with the banks.
The DSO is scheduled to open its fall season Thursday in East Lansing and Friday at Orchestra Hall in Detroit. If those concerts are canceled, ticket holders will be able to get a refund, swap for other concerts or get a rain check for any DSO-sponsored event in the season.
For longtime patrons -- to say nothing of downtown restaurants that rely on symphony traffic -- the prospect of a strike is deeply disappointing.
"Not going to opening night is a great loss," said Barbara Diles, past president of the DSO volunteer council. "You know, we wait all summer for this. I have box seats."
Even with a strike, Parsons said, the Paradise Jazz Series will go on as scheduled.
For their part, the musicians have planned concerts for Oct. 10 and 24 at Temple Beth El and Christ Church Cranbrook, both in Bloomfield Hills.
http://www.detnews.com/arti...-set-to-strike-todaydamn....last year was the first time I hadnt had season tickets for the DSO @ the Max, and it all falls apart.....
hope they get it squared up for the christmas concert - always a fav for me
