{"id":2701,"date":"2009-06-15T12:50:22","date_gmt":"2009-06-15T19:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/?p=2701"},"modified":"2009-06-15T17:24:51","modified_gmt":"2009-06-16T00:24:51","slug":"elaine-calder-on-oso-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/06\/15\/elaine-calder-on-oso-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"elaine calder on OSO ‘crisis’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here’s an email I received this morning from OSO president Elaine Calder, in response to my request for an elaboration on the talking points from her interview with David Stabler which he subsequently used as the basis for his video update<\/a> on the Oregonian<\/em> website.<\/p>\n

Hi Charles,<\/p>\n

I haven’t seen David’s video yet.\u00c2\u00a0 We have asked your negotiating team to consider cuts totaling around $750,000 – which as I pointed out to your committee and to David represents almost $10,000 per musician.\u00c2\u00a0 We know this is an enormous ask of a group of people who don’t earn huge salaries to begin with.\u00c2\u00a0 We also know that people in Oregon and elsewhere in the country are taking cuts of as much as 25% in order to preserve their jobs.<\/p>\n

We don’t expect to get agreement on every point, and yes, this figure does include changes to the heath care insurance.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a negotiated process and so far the discussions have been constructive, considerate and very thoughtful.\u00c2\u00a0 I know at least one member of your committee has lost a lot of sleep trying to come up with a restructuring of the health care insurance plans that would save us money and maintain coverage, and I know we are all working together on the challenges.<\/p>\n

At the League conference in Chicago last week it occurred to me that the overriding objectives for us – the Oregon Symphony, and not necessarily for any other orchestra – should be 1) to survive, 2) to protect and 3) to ensure we have sufficient flexibility to meet whatever happens to the overall economy.\u00c2\u00a0 I realize that “flexibility” is considered the “F” word in some orchestras, but I believe there’s a willingness here to find a “Portland way” of working.<\/p>\n

Realistically, “survive” may not mean continuing exactly as we are, but there’s a lot of good that can come of re-evaluating programs and practices every once in a while, in good times as well as bad.<\/p>\n

By “protect” I mean do all we can, collectively, to preserve the jobs and incomes of our current employees, both in the orchestra and on the staff.\u00c2\u00a0 Again maintaining status quo is proving impossible, but I think the decision to move to two Kaiser plans is a good example of protecting current employees at a lower cost.<\/p>\n

As for flexibility, it’s becoming clear no one knows what is happening in the economy, how long the recovery will take, if any, or if this is the “new normal”.\u00c2\u00a0 I think arguing about which of the economists and analysts should be trusted is a waste of time, and we should accept that for the next few years we are going to be dealing with a lot of uncertainty and unpredictability.\u00c2\u00a0 It will be very easy to deal with improvements in the economy if they materialize, but we need to be braced for the worst.<\/p>\n

I think the musicians themselves have started exploring these ideas, with the review of our calendar and the ideas that the scheduling committee has circulated.<\/p>\n

I hope this helps.\u00c2\u00a0 Please forward it to anyone who contacts you and feel free to post any or all of it on your blog.\u00c2\u00a0 I’m copying the members of the negotiating teams, so they know what is being said.<\/p>\n

Best,<\/p>\n

E<\/p>\n

Elaine Calder
\nPresident
\nOregon Symphony Association
\n921 SW Washington Street, Suite 200
\nPortland, OR\u00c2\u00a0 97205<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here’s an email I received this morning from OSO president Elaine Calder, in response to my request for an elaboration on the talking points from her interview with David Stabler which he subsequently used as the basis for his video update on the Oregonian website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[103,186,2],"tags":[177,3668],"class_list":["post-2701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fundraising","category-labor-issues","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-negotiations","tag-oregon-symphony"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-Hz","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7088,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/11\/28\/oso-surplus-in-huffington-post\/","url_meta":{"origin":2701,"position":0},"title":"OSO surplus in Huffington Post","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Michael Kaiser, President of the Kennedy Center in D.C., is a regular contributor to the online left-leaning news site The Huffington Post. Turns out his most recent column concerned a certain Portland-based orchestra that has run some recent surpluses - click here for his take on the recent successes of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "administration"","block_context":{"text":"administration","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/administration-the-orchestra-world-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1048,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/07\/27\/the-osos-secret-weapon\/","url_meta":{"origin":2701,"position":1},"title":"the OSO’s ‘secret weapon’","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 27, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Conductor Bill Eddins, music director of the Edmonton Symphony, (the previous post of OSO president Elaine Calder) has some high praise for Elaine, which should keep everyone's eyes on the ball, namely that we're trying to ensure a secure future for the Oregon Symphony, rather than sitting back and watching\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "fundraising"","block_context":{"text":"fundraising","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/fundraising\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1500,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/12\/08\/video-of-herby-bequest-presentation\/","url_meta":{"origin":2701,"position":2},"title":"video of herby bequest presentation","author":"Charles Noble","date":"December 8, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's video (courtesy of Carl Herko at the Oregon Symphony) of OSO principal percussionist Niel DePonte presenting the bequest check to OSO president Elaine Calder at the top of last Friday's rehearsal (the audio level is a bit low, so you may need to adjust your computer's output volume):","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2270,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2009\/04\/01\/big-news-from-the-oregon-symphony\/","url_meta":{"origin":2701,"position":3},"title":"big news from the oregon symphony","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 1, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"I just received an email from OSO president Elaine Calder to all musicians and staff.\u00c2\u00a0 It states that the Oregon Symphony has completely scrapped its plans for next season and will no longer play its Classical series of concerts.\u00c2\u00a0 Instead, the Oregon Symphony will change its name to the Oregon\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "bloggers"","block_context":{"text":"bloggers","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/bloggers\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5812,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/02\/18\/symphony-season-almost-ready-to-be-unveiled\/","url_meta":{"origin":2701,"position":4},"title":"symphony season almost ready to be unveiled","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 18, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"The Oregon Symphony's 2011-2012 season is almost ready to be unveiled - we received our in-house copies at rehearsal this morning. \u00a0Since I like having my job, I won't be divulging any secrets here, but the first public trotting out of the season will be done Sunday, February 20th by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "programming"","block_context":{"text":"programming","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/programming-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Lets-Make-a-Deal.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1490,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/12\/06\/a-bequest-from-a-beloved-flutist\/","url_meta":{"origin":2701,"position":5},"title":"a bequest from a beloved flutist","author":"Charles Noble","date":"December 6, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Martha Herby, who would have had her 57th birthday this past Friday, had one last surprise in store for her orchestral family.\u00c2\u00a0 Niel Deponte, executor of her estate, announced at this past Friday morning's rehearsal that in her will Martha had designated funds to be given to the Oregon Symphony\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "fundraising"","block_context":{"text":"fundraising","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/fundraising\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/12\/untitled-30-400x403.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2701\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}