“The Las Vegas Philharmonic will be in tune for the next three years—now that the orchestra’s musicians have approved and ratified a new collective bargaining agreement,” writes Carol Cling in Wednesday’s (1/20) Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nevada). “Philharmonic officials announced the new contract, which includes single-digit increases in base pay, in a Tuesday news release. Although musicians ratified the agreement this month, the period it covers began last July 1 and ends June 30, 2018. Negotiations began last April … Frank Leone, past president of Musicians Union Local No. 369 of the American Federation of Musicians, served on the negotiating committee alongside the seven-member musicians’ committee and three orchestra administration representatives, including Philharmonic President Jeri Crawford. … In addition to increases in base pay, the contract provides increases in fringe benefits, including seniority pay, plus travel accommodations for orchestra members who don’t live in Southern Nevada. The agreement also eliminates pay differences between rehearsals and concerts…. Overall, the Philharmonic’s musicians were ‘very pleased’ with the new contract,” said Stephen Caplan, the Philharmonic’s principal oboist, who chaired the orchestra’s negotiating committee. “ ‘We’re all on the same page,’ he said of the musicians and the Philharmonic’s administration. ‘We want to see the orchestra grow.’ ”
Posted January 20, 2016
