I was thinking about the Detroit Symphony strike today, as I was going about my business, and a few thoughts came to me. My first thought is what are all of the stakeholders at the DSO feeling right now? Surely, they are all relieved that the orchestra did not go over the brink and cancel the entire season and suspend the summer season and what followed. That would likely have meant the death of the organization. As it is, the DSO faces major challenges over the coming months and years.<\/p>\n
My next thought was that this entire episode is rather like a divorce proceeding with children involved. The orchestra players are one spouse, then management and board, the other. The children are the concert-going public. How will they feel after this extended custody battle for their hearts and minds? Because, unlike divorces, the players are going back to work for the same management which, in their view, forced them to strike. The parents are back together, but a lot of very ugly things were said in front of the children. How will they react? Will they seek emancipation and take their dollars elsewhere? Or will they, though years are reassurance and therapy, return to the fold?<\/p>\n
My final thought is this: what has this strike earned for we fellow unionized musicians? We’ve been told (and told each other) that the DSO musicians were not only doing it for themselves, they were also taking a stand on the front line for the rest of us. Ok. I can respect that, admire it even. But what will this have done for us as the months and years go by? Will managements take a more inclusive line in their negotiating tactics? Will players be more aggressive in theirs? Will boards look to the manifold mistakes and mismanagement that have happened in Detroit and learn some lessons about how to deal with their property and infrastructure issues? Will players parse the progress of the negotiations and learn to better gauge the circumstances of the broader community in which they serve before taking hard action?<\/p>\n
Many advances in technology and learning take place in the period during and directly following acts of war. Medical technology is a prime example – with practices learned on the battlefield being brought straight into the urban trauma center. Will the same sorts of lessons be learned in the aftermath of this bloody conflict in Detroit? I can only hope so, because if we do not heed the lessons learned here, than it will have been all for naught. And that would be a terrible waste, indeed.<\/p>\n
UPDATE: According to the Associated Press<\/a>, the starting salary for the Detroit Symphony in the new contract (including the electronic media guarantee) will be $79,000. That’s a 33% cut from the previous base wage. That’s substantial by any measure. However, I was curious just how much $79,000 in Detroit would equal in Portland dollars. The answer, found here<\/a>, was $128,000. I’m feeling less than sanguine about my own salary after reading that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was thinking about the Detroit Symphony strike today, as I was going about my business, and a few thoughts came to me. My first thought is what are all of the stakeholders at the DSO feeling right now? Surely, they are all relieved that the orchestra did not go over the brink and cancel […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_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}},"categories":[1783,186,2],"tags":[2361,2631,2630,112,2380],"class_list":["post-6117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-administration-the-orchestra-world-music","category-labor-issues","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-detroit-symphony","tag-labor","tag-lessons","tag-management","tag-strike"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-1AF","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5840,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/02\/21\/whisky-tango-foxtrot\/","url_meta":{"origin":6117,"position":0},"title":"whisky tango foxtrot??!!","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Or, as they say on the internets, WTF??!! The Detroit Symphony regime, er, management, has taken a Qadaffi-esque approach to the musicians' strike with a spray of gunfire, er, announcement that if the musicians don't settle for more concessions than were proposed in their last, best offer, then the orchestra\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "labor issues"","block_context":{"text":"labor issues","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/labor-issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/02\/Gaddafi1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5431,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/10\/13\/detroit-news-roundup\/","url_meta":{"origin":6117,"position":1},"title":"detroit news roundup","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 13, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's a collection of links to news and related blog posts about the current strike at the Detroit Symphony. UPDATED: Latest info: Detroit Musician's concert to be televised - NY Times DSO bosses risk orchestra's future - Detroit News Sarah Chang Flap Links: Sarah Chang lands in S. Cal following\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "labor issues"","block_context":{"text":"labor issues","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/labor-issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5915,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/03\/04\/dso-board-rejects-arbitration-offer-from-musicians\/","url_meta":{"origin":6117,"position":2},"title":"dso board rejects arbitration offer from musicians","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 4, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"UPDATE: Talks are still ongoing. I just received this email from Save Our Symphony a few moments ago - this is not a good turn in a five month dispute that has had many bad ones: March 4, 2011 Dear SOS Supporters, Tonight the Detroit Symphony management formally rejected the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "labor issues"","block_context":{"text":"labor issues","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/labor-issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5191,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/08\/23\/detroit-round-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":6117,"position":3},"title":"detroit round-up","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 23, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"As the talks in Detroit enter the 11th hour, here's a round up of recent articles and blog posts about the situation: DSO pay feud: Is world class stature at stake? - [freep.com] How salary proposals compare with other top U.S. orchestras - [freep.com] Detroit Explores the Net Value of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "labor issues"","block_context":{"text":"labor issues","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/labor-issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/08\/2741610040_ace0b57f75.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5820,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/02\/19\/dso-musicians-reject-contract-season-suspended\/","url_meta":{"origin":6117,"position":4},"title":"dso musicians reject contract, season ‘suspended’","author":"Charles Noble","date":"February 19, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, here we are. The game of brinksmanship at the Detroit Symphony has been carried to its (il)logical conclusion - the musicians are still on strike, and management has 'suspended' (n\u00e9e canceled) the remainder of the current season. Is this what both sides of this contract warfare were hoping for?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "labor issues"","block_context":{"text":"labor issues","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/labor-issues\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5127,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/07\/29\/severe-cuts-proposed-in-detroit\/","url_meta":{"origin":6117,"position":5},"title":"severe cuts proposed in detroit","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 29, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"This came over the PRNewswire today (thanks to Elaine for bringing it to my attention): Detroit Symphony Musicians Targeted for Deep Slashes; Will Other Symphony Orchestra Musicians Also Be Under Gun? DETROIT, July 29 \/PRNewswire\/ -- Salary cuts upwards of 28 percent, drastic cuts in their health insurance, elimination 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":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6117","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=6117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6117\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}