“When I first read about the contract negotiations between the Nashville Symphony and our local musicians union, AFM Local 257, on behalf of our symphony’s musicians, I was pleased that they came to an agreement to provide pay raises for the musicians and to increase the number of positions within the symphony,” writes Bill Freeman in Thursday’s (7/26) Nashville Scene. “What struck me most about these contract negotiations was the manner in which they were conducted…. Words like ‘cordial,’ ‘family’ and ‘spirit of mutual respect’ abounded. When have you ever seen a contract negotiation proceed like that? … After the one-two punch of the Great Recession and the 2010 flood, musicians and administration took significant pay cuts and had some positions eliminated to ensure that the symphony would remain on solid financial footing. These necessary steps backward in 2013 have since been made up for, with incremental raises each year that have restored the orchestra musicians’ financial compensation…. I see this same spirit of cooperation and harmony continuing today in many ways, not the least of which is the way the symphony and Local 257 conducted themselves … We could all learn a lesson or two from this.”
Posted July 27, 2018
