In Sunday’s (2/20) Detroit Free Press, Mark Stryker reports on the strike at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. “The musicians rejected management’s final contract offer, and management and the board of directors responded by carrying out a long-promised threat to suspend the remaining 3-1/2 months of the 2010-11 season. Half the season was lost to the 20-week strike already. Saturday’s developments call into question not only the next few months in the life of the DSO but also next season and beyond. … Management said it hoped suspending the season would allow its guest artists, patrons and donors to move forward and give the orchestra room to start rebuilding parts of its business. … Though the two sides reached consensus on a 3-year, $36-million framework, representatives from both sides said the biggest disagreements remain over base pay levels; control over scheduling public service work such as teaching, coaching and chamber music; and rules and pay governing Internet broadcasts, video and recordings.” In Tuesday’s (2/22) Free Press, Stryker further reports, “The orchestra has no plans to hire permanent replacements for the 85 musicians who have been on strike for 21 weeks, the Detroit Symphony Orchestra president Anne Parsons said today. … A story in the Detroit News cited comments from DSO executive vice president Paul Hogle indicating the orchestra had a plan to reconstitute with new musicians. Both Hogle and Parsons said this afternoon that Hogle’s words were taken out of context and that conclusions were drawn independent of what was said.”
Posted February 22, 2011
