by erin thursby scopes1925@msn.com
Wondering what all the hoopla over the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra lockout is about? EU spoke with Kevin Casseday, Chair and Spokesman for the Jacksonville Symphony Players Association, to get the skinny on why the musicians are up in arms.
For quite a few years the symphony has operated at a deficit, which has prompted management to ask the musicians to take cut after cut to salary and benefits.
“I think they should not operate at a deficit, I think we’re all in agreement on that…” says Casseday “Our disagreement is on the way to end the deficit…We believe that we should run in the black and it should be done by more aggressive fundraising and ticket sales, not by asking the musicians to yet again take less for what we continue to do at a very high level.”
Is the answer to financial stability cuts to musician’s salaries and benefits? Here’s what the Jacksonville Symphony Musicians’ website had to say about it:
“The Symphony players have been told that we need to accept these concessions in our contract to defray yearly operating deficits. Yet despite Jacksonville’s immense growth since 2001, the fundraising income has actually dropped by $130,000. Between 2001 and 2006, however, money devoted to the Symphony’s marketing salaries have increased by 23% and Development salaries have grown by 34%. In contrast, musicians’ base salaries have only risen 10%. Yet we continue to hear that the orchestra’s financial woes are due to musicians’ inflationary salaries.”
In 2001, the musicians took a loss of one week’s paycut in vacation time and other concessions. Within a year, management asked for more cuts, saying that they would not even be able to fulfill the 2001 agreement. There were further cuts in the years following.
“We agreed to those cuts with the understanding that the cuts would in fact make the orchestra solvent,” says Casseday. “Here we are, yet again being asked. That’s the crux of the matter. We believe that if we continue to take the cuts then management and the association will feel that is the way to run the orchestra.”
The association is continually looking for ways to plug the hole in their deficit and if the musicians continue to take those cuts, more and more of the top musicians will leave for other opportunities, musical or otherwise.
The cuts will cause certain members of the orchestra to drop out, particularly part-time members, who may only end up earning $9,000. Some players, but not most, would lose up to 25% of their salary, especially with the bonus pay for playing two instruments being taken away. Since management has cut pay every time they’ve come to negotiate, those seemingly small cuts can add up.
Although the majority of the players, especially the full-time musicians, would only suffer smaller (though still substantial) cuts, the orchestra voted the way they did because those who would suffer most might not be able to make mortgage payments under the new contract.
“The orchestra did vote not as individuals…we voted as a family to make sure that every one of us was taken care of.”
The suspension of operations happened because negotiations stalled.
“Musicians were always willing to play…we were ready to play.” But the musicians were willing to play under the old terms of the contract, before the newest cuts in benefits and salary. Management decided to suspend operations because they didn’t want to pay the musicians at the current rate.
“We still had an offer on the table; we were perfectly willing to continue negotiations.”
Management has suffered a blow to their image after JSO Board Chair Jim Van Vleck was quoted in the Times-Union as saying “I really do respect our musicians, but there’s something about a 37-week year and 20 hours a week that doesn’t seem too onerous.” It was a definite insult to the musicians. They might spend 20 hours in group practice and on stage, but all of the musicians practice outside those 20 hours.
Says Casseday of the inflammatory quote: “That was a lighting bolt that went throughout the United States to musicians…I will say that I think we all know better than that. I think we all know better than 20 hours a week…Does an attorney only bill for time in the courtroom? Plus, we would love to work all year. Thirty-seven weeks is what the Association has decided to do…”
“I’ve been here 22 years, and my base scale is 38 thousand dollars a year, with seniority pay it goes to 39 thousand…for me. If I were in some other profession, after 22 years, the scale might be $15-20 thousand dollars higher than that with seniority pay.”
That means that a full-time musician with a master’s degree gets much less in salary and benefits than a teacher in Duval County with comparable experience. The difference can be as much as $20 thousand a year. Teachers, like the musicians, tend to work for a limited amount of time per year, getting weeks off during summer vacation.
Since the lockout began, the musicians have held two benefit concerts, both to raise money so they can live and to slake the thirst for live orchestra music in the area.
“Our real fear is taking us down to the level of the Florida Philharmonic that died in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale. They took every cut asked of them. Two weeks after the last round of cuts they accepted, the orchestra folded.”
If management uses salary cuts as the bandage to fix the deficit problem, they might not look as hard at other solutions. Meanwhile, the cuts will cause the better musicians to look elsewhere for employment. This might cause the quality of the music to degrade, shrinking audiences and forcing further cuts in a vicious cycle leading to the eventual death of JSO. The musicians feel that they are doing this as much to benefit themselves as they are to ensure that Jacksonville keeps its orchestra and the quality of the orchestra.
“For every dollar that goes into the symphony I think the city gets something like six dollars back into the local economy.”
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