Minnesota-Orchestra_0.png

Twin Cities Turmoil

Janos Gereben on March 12, 2013
Expansion plan for Orchestra Hall is contested in Minneapolis labor strife
Expansion plan for Orchestra Hall is contested in Minneapolis labor strife

While San Francisco Symphony now has its own labor problems, orchestras in the Twin Cities are facing a much more immediate crisis. In addition to the dispute placing the very existence of the 100-year-old Minnesota Orchestra in jeopardy, the neighboring St. Paul Chamber Orchestra is announcing additional concert cancellations in the wake of the prolonged work stoppage that has obliterated more than four months of concerts and events.

Orchestra management has officially called off all engagements through April 21. Statements from labor and management are contradictory, and musicians are beginning to leave St. Paul, most prominently principal second violinist Kyu-Young Kim, hired by the New York Philharmonic.

According to Carole Mason Smith, chair of the musicians’ negotiating committee, management is still insisting that musicians give back $1.5 million per year for the next four years, and "management has not changed its position for the past 14 months." She says musicians have already given back $1.7 million in savings due to the lockout that began in October of 2012.

On the other hand, SPCO president Dobson West spoke of being upbeat:

We have been pleased to have begun a more intense negotiations schedule recently, including three days of meetings last week and multiple meetings scheduled again this week. We sincerely regret the impact of these cancellations, and we hope that the ongoing discussions we are engaged in will lead to an agreement soon so that we can resume our season.

On the other side of the Mississippi River, after six months of the Minnesota Orchestra playing without a contract, management locked out the musicians beginning in October, charging that the musicians were trying to continue "talk and play," and the stalemate continues.

Issues now surfacing in San Francisco — about fiscal information and a large-scale building project — have been percolating in Minneapolis for months now, management statements sharply contradicted by the musicians' union.