Love wins! Union members join celebration at Twin Cities Pride Parade

June 29, 2015 by
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Joanne Hager and her daughter Amelia march in the Pride Parade along Hennepin Avenue.

 

Union members joined the party at the Ashley Rukes GLBT Pride Parade in Minneapolis yesterday, cheering the Supreme Court’s historic decision making marriage equality the law of the land.

“We’re always fighting; it feels good to be celebrating for a change,” Charli Haataja, a member of Local 7250 of the Communications Workers of America, said.

Haataja was among more than 50 people who marched in the parade behind the Minnesota AFL-CIO’s banner. [Click here to view photos of the marching unit on Facebook.] The labor federation has maintained a presence in the parade for years, and Minnesota unions – and unions across the country – have been staunch allies in fight for LGBT rights.

web.Pride15-gjertson“We want to show our solidarity with other workers no matter if they’re gay, straight, transgender – it doesn’t matter,” CWA Local 7250 member Alaric Poseley-Hatton said. “We fight for equality in the workplace, and it’s great to have equality in marriage too.”

In a 5-4 decision released Friday, the Supreme Court found states that deny same-sex couples the right to marry are in violation of the 14th Amendment, which guarantees all citizens equal protection of the laws. The ruling extends marriage rights to same-sex couples in all 50 states.

July 1 will mark the two-year anniversary of marriage equality in Minnesota, where lawmakers moved swiftly to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples after the state’s voters rejected a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in November 2012. Minnesota unions and labor organizations, including the Minnesota AFL-CIO, joined the coalition of groups fighting for marriage equality.

The Supreme Court ruling means same-sex couples wed in Minnesota will maintain their married status no matter where in the U.S. they go. Liz Shuler, secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, called it “a win for children, families, workers and our entire country.”

web.Pride15-groupBut union members at the Pride Parade said the fight for equality is far from over.

LGBT workers’ rights, in particular, need strengthening, as most states do not have laws protecting all workers from discrimination on the job as a result of sexual orientation. Jerame Davis, director of the labor-backed advocacy group Pride at Work, said there remains a “very real possibility that a worker could marry the person they love on Saturday and then get fired from their job Monday morning when they show pictures around the water cooler.”

“There’s still a fight out there,” Claire Zupatz, a member of the Twin Cities Musicians Union, said. “If you can do the job, you should be able to go and do the work and not be afraid of being fired because of your lifestyle.”

Collective bargaining agreements, of course, provide protection from employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, but union contracts cover only a fraction of the private-sector workforce.

LGBT workers also face more subtle forms of discrimination in the workplace – union and non-union alike, Laborers Local 563 member Joanne Hager said.

“In the construction trades, it’s sometimes difficult to be open about who you are,” Hager said. “There is some homophobia in our industry, as in all industries.

“We’re in need of more workers in our industry, and we need to make sure these jobs are inclusive of everyone who wants to work to support their families.”

Hager and her 13-year-old daughter, Amelia, marched in the Pride Parade wearing hardhats and carrying a homemade banner that proclaimed, “Building MN with Quality and PRIDE!”

“People should be equally treated and not discriminated against because of who they love,” Amelia Hager said.

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Gloves come off as orchestra musicians mark one year locked out of their jobs

October 1, 2013 by

web.orchestra-lockout3Since Day 1 the Minnesota Orchestra lockout has been taking a personal toll on musicians. Now, one year into the work stoppage, things are getting personal for the orchestra’s Board of Directors too.

Union musicians, members of the American Federation of Musicians Local 30-73, marked the one-year anniversary of the start of their work stoppage today, rallying outside Orchestra Hall downtown Minneapolis with patrons, community supporters and the president of their international union, who wasn’t shy about naming names.

In a fiery speech before a crowd of more than 200 people, AFM President Ray Hair called out 11 members of the board, and he identified most by their corporate employers, including Cargill, General Mills, U.S. Bank, Wells Fargo, United Health, 3M, Xcel Energy, Land o’ Lakes and the Star Tribune.

“Does that sound like a board that doesn’t have any money?” Hair asked. “Or does that sound like a bunch of bullies?

“I say no more groveling to these union-busters. These people and their companies are not worthy of our business.”

[Click here for Save Our Symphony Minnesota’s guide to calling or e-mailing members of the Board of Directors!]

Musicians voted unanimously last weekend to reject the orchestra’s latest contract proposal, which would have slashed salaries by about 25 percent over three years.

Signing bonuses of $20,000 sweetened the offer, but musicians did not budge from their stance that significant compensation cuts will damage the orchestra’s long-term artistic viability, limiting its ability to attract qualified musicians – and prompting current musicians to seek jobs elsewhere.

Musicians have presented management with counteroffers, including some that would cut their pay by as much as 8 percent. The also say they are open to a “play-and-talk” arrangement that would allow concerts to resume while contract negotiations play out.

Still, management has shown little interest in compromise, Tony Ross, a cellist and member of the musicians’ bargaining team, told the crowd. Ross said he’s lost count of how many different offers the union has presented to management.

“They come back and make the same offer over and over again,” he said.

The lockout, of course, is a deliberate strategy to inflict economic hardship on workers in the hopes of exacting concessions at the bargaining table. The Board of Directors, Hair said, appears committed to the strategy, regardless of its effect on the orchestra’s reputation. Management announced yesterday it had backed out of concerts scheduled next month at Carnegie Hall, and today Osmo Vanska, the orchestra’s renowned conductor for the last 10 years, resigned.

“I call it economic terrorism by the rich big shots in this town,” Hair said. “It’s management without music, that’s what it is. And it’s coming from managers who wouldn’t know the difference between a banjo and a bass drum.”

The unanimous contract vote indicates musicians, too, remain resolved as ever, although many musicians with the orchestra a year ago have taken positions elsewhere. The musicians maintain a list of “ghosts lost to the lockout” on its website.

Still, they are forging ahead with plans to stage a series of concerts in various venues this fall, beginning with performances Friday and Saturday at Ted Mann Concert Hall. Emanuel Ax, a Grammy-winning pianist, will be featured in a program slated to include Stravinsky’s “Suite from The Firebird” – a piece, Ross noted, about “rising from the ashes.”

“We want to serve our community because it is the community that owns this orchestra, it is not the management,” Ross said. “So if we have to play every other hall but (Orchestra Hall), we will until we can get back where we belong.”

Patrons and musicians gather for a demonstration outside Orchestra Hall organized by Save Our Symphony Minnesota last month.

Patrons and musicians gather for a demonstration outside Orchestra Hall organized by Save Our Symphony Minnesota last month.

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Musicians ratify contract, call for new SPCO leadership

April 29, 2013 by

spcomuslogo1Stressing that they “remain deeply concerned” about the ensemble’s future, musicians of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra today announced their vote to ratify a three-year agreement with the orchestra, officially ending the lockout that began Oct. 21, 2012.

The new contract will reduce the size of the SPCO from 34 to 28 musicians. It also slashes by more than 20 percent musicians’ salaries and “overscale” pay, additional compensation some musicians receive for special skills or leadership roles.

In a press release, members of the musicians’ negotiating team said they accepted the pay cuts in order to avoid a two-tiered pay scale that would make it difficult to attract high-caliber artists to positions with the SPCO.

“The vast difference between the new SPCO annual salary of $60,000 and the salaries of other major American orchestras, many of which exceed $100,000, will make attracting such musicians very difficult,” said Carole Mason Smith, chair of the negotiating committee.

Musicians estimated the SPCO will achieve cost savings of $5 million by 2016 as a result of the new contract – and the 191-day lockout, which will be lifted tomorrow.

In the press release, musicians also “called for the immediate commencement of a search for a new SPCO leader with proven orchestra management experience, and the vision and skill to substantially increase revenues and to maintain and enhance the SPCO’s status as one of the world’s leading chamber orchestras. If revenues are not significantly increased in the next three years, the artistic quality of this Orchestra will not be preserved.”

“We’re eager and excited to return to the stage and play music again for our loyal audiences,” Mason Smith said. “We’ve keenly missed performing for our community, but we remain deeply concerned about the artistic quality of the SPCO for future generations.”

SPCO concerts are scheduled to resume May 9. Click here for ticket information.

The musicians of the SPCO are members of American Federation of Musicians Local 30-73, which also represents musicians locked out of their jobs by the Minnesota Orchestra since Oct. 1, 2012.

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Renowned conductor, Minnesota Chorale join benefit for SPCO’s locked-out musicians

November 29, 2012 by

Locked out of their jobs, the Musicians of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra are looking to grow public support in their ongoing dispute with orchestra management by doing what they do best – performing world-class music for their fans.

The Musicians of the SPCO will partner with the Minnesota Chorale, the region’s premier symphonic chorus, for two performances Dec. 20- 21 of the traditional holiday classic Handel’s Messiah at Central Lutheran Church downtown Minneapolis. Both performances will start at 7:30 p.m.

Central Lutheran Church is located across the street from the Minneapolis Convention Center, at 333 South 12th Street. Convenient parking is adjacent to the church.

Internationally acclaimed conductor Hugh Wolff, the SPCO’s principal conductor and music director from 1988 to 2000, will conduct the concerts.

Tickets cost between $15 and $45, and they are available through the Central Lutheran Church website, or at messiahmpls.brownpapertickets.com.

The concerts will benefit SPCO musicians, who have been out of work since being locked out by orchestra management Oct. 21. The orchestra is seeking steep cuts to pay and benefits – cuts orchestra members say will have a negative impact on the group’s artistic quality.

The holiday benefit concerts will follow an all-Mozart benefit concert Dec. 2 at Wayzata Community Church, staged by the SPCO musicians with Pinchas Zukerman, an internationally acclaimed violinist and conductor.

For more information on the SPCO musicians and their lockout, go to www.musiciansspco.org.

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Minnesota Orchestra musicians, fans rally as lockout enters second month

November 1, 2012 by

Nils Halker, a longtime orchestra patron from St. Paul, joins the locked-out musicians’ rally in Peavey Plaza.

Musicians locked out of their jobs by the Minnesota Orchestra rallied with patrons, union leaders and other supporters in Peavey Plaza downtown Minneapolis today, as the lockout of 95 members of Twin Cities Musicians Union Local 30-73 entered its second month.

Although buoyed by strike benefits from their international union, the American Federation of Musicians, locked-out orchestra members have been without regular paychecks and health insurance for 31 days.

Many have accepted temporary, fill-in positions with orchestras around the country. Others are beginning to seek permanent work elsewhere, which is bad news for the orchestra’s fans and patrons, clarinetist Tim Zavadil said.

Attrition among orchestra members “is going to severely threaten the world-class status that the Minnesota Orchestra has been known for and what the state of Minnesota has supported for 110 years,” Zavadil said.

Orchestra ticketholders at the rally echoed those concerns. Nils Halker of St. Paul carried a homemade sign identifying himself as a “locked out patron” supporting the union musicians.

A longtime season ticket holder, Halker already has missed two concerts as a result of the lockout. He said he sides with the union in the dispute because he believes gutting musicians’ salaries would erode the artistic quality of a “cultural treasure.”

Bringing corporate tactics to Orchestra Hall?

The onus for preserving and protecting that treasure, Halker added, falls on the orchestra’s Board of Directors, which includes the powerful CEOs of corporations like U.S. Bank, Land o’ Lakes, Xcel Energy and others.

“They are not being good custodians,” Halker said of board members. “I believe it’s an irreplaceable treasure we are going to lose if this is not resolved in a good way.”

Some observers have questioned whether orchestra board members are bringing their corporate values – and hostilities toward unions – with them to Orchestra Hall. Halker pointed to the increased use of lockouts among employers – from the National Hockey League to American Crystal Sugar – looking to exact steep concessions from their workers.

“It seems to me to be a pattern,” he said. “The lockout has become a new management strategy, very widespread, because management feels they have a lot more leverage now than they have in the past.”

Holiday offerings in doubt

Orchestra management and its Board of Directors made the decision to lock out musicians Oct. 1 despite the union’s offer to continue negotiations while playing out the 2012-13 season – with a guarantee that musicians would not interrupt the concert schedule with a strike.

That offer was rejected, and concerts have been canceled through Nov. 25.

Management may decide next week to cancel more events, including popular holiday offerings.

That would deal a stinging blow to restaurants, parking ramps and other businesses around the Minneapolis Convention Center, which will house the orchestra during construction of a $52 million lobby at Orchestra Hall.

Tim Zavadil, a clarinetist and member of the union’s negotiating committee, talks to the media during the rally.

Zavadil called management’s decision to expand Orchestra Hall while demanding 30 to 50 percent pay cuts from musicians a “remarkable juxtaposition.”

Union members at the rally renewed their call for the orchestra to open its books to an “independent, third-party financial analysis” of whether the pay cuts are really necessary – a request the orchestra repeatedly has denied.

“We don’t know what they’re afraid of, why they won’t agree to this,” Zavadil said. Pointing out that the orchestra is demanding the average musician sacrifice $60,000 in concessions, Zavazil added: “I’ve never invested $60,000 anywhere before, but were I going to … I would need the most complete and verified financial information I could possibly find.”

If the orchestra moves forward with canceling holiday concerts, Zavadil said, the union has plans in the works to give concerts to fans and supporters at alternative venues, like musicians’ homes. Muusicians were encouraged by the turnout – more than 2,100 people – at a sold-out concert staged by the union Oct. 18.

Halker was in the second row for that show. It was his only opportunity to hear the orchestra since the last season ended and, he hopes, not his last.

“It was spectacular,” he said. “It was emotional, it was powerful, it was thrilling – and sad at the same time.”

Click here for more information on the Minnesota Orchestra lockout, and what supporters can do to help.

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Locked-out musicians reject SPCO’s contract proposal

October 31, 2012 by

Musicians locked out of their jobs by the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra voted unanimously today to reject a contract offer from management, prolonging a work stoppage that began Oct. 21.

Management’s proposed reductions to current musicians’ salaries and benefits are unacceptable, union members said. They warned even bigger proposed cuts to future musicians’ compensation would undermine the orchestra’s quality and artistry.

Lynn Erickson, SPCO member and spokesperson for the musicians’ Negotiating Committee, said the SPCO would be “unable to identify any qualified artistic consultant who would support the proposed reductions.”

Kyu-Young Kim, an SPCO violinist and member of the musicians’ Negotiating Committee, called the contract proposal an attempt by management to divide current and future orchestra members.

“Management again fails to realize that an orchestra functions as a team, and that none of us in the SPCO have any interest in selling our present or future colleagues down the river,” Kim said.

Kim pointed to a letter made public Oct. 25 in which SPCO management said it planned to reduce the pay of highly paid “principal players” significantly less than those who receive the base pay.

SPCO management has said it is looking to cut $1.5 million from its annual budget in contract negotiations. Musicians have presented management with a counter-proposal that, they say, would save the SPCO more than $700,000 over the course of three years – while continuing to live up to the orchestra’s high artistic standards.

“Our goal is to preserve the artistic excellence of the SPCO in a fiscally responsible way, for our supporters and for this community,” Erickson said. “We want to resume negotiations as soon as possible and hope that a mutually agreeable solution can be quickly achieved.”

The proposal rejected today also would give management the ability to terminate musicians at any time with no recourse, the musicians said.

Click here for more information on the Musicians of the SPCO and their lockout.

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Union musicians locked out on both sides of the Mississippi River

October 29, 2012 by

St. Paul Chamber Orchestra musicians at Ordway Center.

Union musicians in Minneapolis and St. Paul have been locked out of their jobs by the Minneapolis-based Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO), leaving a deafening void in the Twin Cities cultural scene.

SPCO musicians, who had been working under a “talk-and-play” agreement after their contract expired in September, were locked out Oct. 21, when orchestra President and Chair Dobson West posted a statement that concerts had been canceled through Nov. 4.

The musicians, members of Twin Cities Musicians Union Local 30-73, are encouraging fans and supporters to contact SPCO management with an appeal to reconsider a counterproposal the union offered during contract talks Sept. 25. Go to musiciansspco.org to take action.

Rejected by management a day later, the counterproposal offered to cut musicians’ salaries by 10.5 percent across the board over the next two years and by 4 percent in the third year – in exchange for shared sacrifice from SPCO management. According to the union, it would save the SPCO more than $700,000 over the course of the three-year pact.

SPCO management has said it is seeking $1.5 million in cost savings from the musicians’ contract – a figure musicians say is impossible to reach without compromising the SPCO’s artistic quality.

“It is disheartening that management isn’t interested in preserving this historic ensemble,” said Carole Smith, a bassoonist and chair of the union’s Negotiations Committee. “We need the public now more than ever to contact management and ask them to reconsider.”

The counterproposal includes other concessions designed to help the SPCO raise revenue, including free musician performances eight times each year and performances at small gatherings of SPCO donors. Musicians say the SPCO has the money in hand to maintain operations without drastic cuts. The union’s counterproposal, Smith said, would provide management with the savings it needs in the short run in order “to finally put together an effective endowment drive.”

MN Orchestra lockout drags on

In 2010, The New Yorker magazine critic Alex Ross lauded the Minnesota Orchestra as “the greatest orchestra in the world.” The orchestra, founded 110 years ago as the Minneapolis Symphony, tours nationally and internationally, and issues critically-acclaimed symphonic recordings.

The management of the orchestra, however, locked out its 95 musicians Oct. 1, when they failed to ratify a proposed contract. The proposal included pay cuts of 30-50 percent in musicians’ salaries. The proposed contract also included more than 250 changes to the musicians’ current agreement, gutting 40 years of worker protections gained through collective bargaining.

The musicians, also members of the Twin Cities Musicians Union Local 30-73, were ready to continue working and performing while contract issues were resolved. But orchestra management – the Minnesota Orchestral Association – cancelled the entire fall season.

Although the lock-out meant the cancellation of the fall season’s opening night, scheduled for Oct. 18, the musicians were determined to play. Independent of management, they promoted and staged their own sold-out concert the same night with Stanislaw Skrowaczewski conducting.

“From the beginning,”orchestra member Wendy Williams said, “our perception has been a refusal to bargain in good faith by the other side.”

She noted that management recently adopted a new business model and  changed the Minnesota Orchestral Association’s mission statement – even dropping presenting a “symphony orchestra” from the stated mission.

More information is at MinnesotaOrchestraMusicians.org.

– Minneapolis Labor Review Editor Steve Share contributed reporting.

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With contract set to expire Sunday, SPCO musicians ask supporters to take action

September 28, 2012 by

Musicians of the SPCO give a free concert as part of their commitment to the long-term financial stability of the orchestra.

With their contract set to expire Sunday, the Musicians of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra are encouraging supporters to show their appreciation for the quality and artistry union members bring to the SPCO by attending one of two concerts this weekend – and by calling SPCO management.

The SPCO will give performances of “American Romantics and Maria Schneider” at 8 p.m. tonight at Wayzata Community Church, 125 E. Wayzata Blvd., and at 8 p.m. tomorrow at St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, 900 Summit Ave., St. Paul.

The musicians, members of Twin Cities Musicians Union Local 30-73, are also encouraging fans to contact SPCO management with an appeal to reconsider a counterproposal the union offered during contract talks Sept. 25.

Rejected by management a day later, the counteroffer would have cut musicians’ salaries by 10.5 percent across the board over the next two years and by 4 percent in the third year – in exchange for “shared sacrifice” from SPCO management.

According to the union, it would save the SPCO more than $700,000 over the course of the three-year pact.

Management has said it is seeking $1.5 million in cost savings from the musicians’ contract – a figure musicians say is impossible to reach without compromising the SPCO’s artistic quality.

“It is disheartening that management isn’t interested in preserving this historic ensemble,” said Carole Smith, a bassoonist and chair of the union’s Negotiations Committee. “We need the public now more than ever to contact management and ask them to reconsider – time is running out.”

The counterproposal includes other concessions designed to help the SPCO raise revenue, including free musician performances eight times each year and performances at small gatherings of SPCO donors.

Musicians say the SPCO has the money in hand to maintain operations without drastic cuts. The union’s counteroffer, Smith said, would provide management with the savings it needs in the short run in order “to finally put together an effective endowment drive.”

For more on the negotiations, go to the Musicians of the SPCO website.

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Keillor to host free concert with Musicians of the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra

September 24, 2012 by

The union musicians of The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra (SPCO), currently engaged in a contentious round of negotiations with their employer, will present a free concert for the public at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2 on the Macalester College campus, with St. Paul-based author and radio personality Garrison Keillor serving as host.

The musician-led program will feature works by Rossini, Mozart and Beethoven. Afterward, musicians will host a special reception for all patrons in attendance.

“The musicians in the SPCO adore their enthusiastic audiences in the Twin Cities, and this is a fun and celebratory way to really give something back to the community that supports what we do, and in an unexpected venue as well,” Concertmaster Steven Copes said in a statement.

The concert will take place in the Leonard Center gymnasium, 125 Snelling Ave., St. Paul.

For more information about the Musicians of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra and their contract negotiations, go to www.musiciansspco.org.

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