Breaking News from Orchestras and Musicians

Dec. 21

The musicians of the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa) are accusing their management of bad-faith bargaining, according to the musicians' press release:   After repeated delays for over a year, the Centre finally agreed to meet with the musicians for the first time in May, 1996. At that time the Centre tabled demands that would see the orchestra seriously diminished in stature. Despite the best attempts of the musicians to find a solution that meets the needs of the Centre, the Centre's original and damaging demands remain unchanged. The Association originally filed a complaint of bad faith bargaining in October, which was then held in abeyance pending the outcome of recent conciliation meetings, in the hopes that an agreement could be reached and further public embarrassment of the Centre avoided. However, the Centre's recent actions, including the publication yesterday of incomplete and misleading information about the musicians' position, working conditions and income, have left the Association with no choice but to pursue the charge of bad faith. To back up their position, the musicians voted last night by 98% to give their negotiating team the mandate to call a legal work stoppage if acceptable progress is not made. It must be pointed out that, while the Centre claims to have requested the services of a mediator, the Centre, in fact, requested that no further meetings be held. It was the Centre that called for the impasse to be declared, in order to end the conciliation process. It became evident to the conciliator and to our negotiating team that, throughout these talks, the Centre's negotiating team had no authority to negotiate. Said the musicians' negotiator, Jim Shields: "The musicians have now made two offers to the Centre, the last one including concessions far in excess of the amounts stated by the Centre. We have been advised by the conciliators that there would be little point in making further offers until there is some response from the Centre. "Whatever the Centre is saying in the media, the facts are that the Centre called for the impasse and has requested that there be no further meetings. The NAC is making an attempt to confuse the issues at hand, to the detriment of the negotiating process. The record must be set straight."

Dec. 20

Negotiations between the musicians and management of the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa) have broken down, according to the musicians' press release:   Federal conciliators have declared the talks at an impasse and no further dates for negotiations have been set. Conciliators had called a recess in the talks on Dec. 2. A further session, called by the conciliators and held yesterday and today, did not produce any progress. Today, the NAC has issued incomplete and misleading information about the negotiations. The Centre ignores the fact the musicians called for a mediator months ago, but the Centre refused. The Centre places responsibility for unused Orchestra services onto the Orchestra's contract without recognizing the Centre's responsibility to use the Orchestra to its full potential. The Centre is asking the Orchestra for a commitment in the form of cutbacks, to help them deal with their financial problems. We are willing to help, and have offered ways for the Centre to increase its revenues. What we are concerned about is the long-term future of the Orchestra. We have offered the Centre a three-year proposal that includes cutbacks in return for a long-term commitment to maintain the stature of the Orchestra. The Centre's two-year offer does not do this. We cannot accept a contract that diminishes the Orchestra for two years and then just leaves it there, to be diminished further in the next contract.

Dec. 19

A number of sponsors of the upcoming tour of the New York City Opera company have reacted with anger to the company's plan to substitute piani for its orchestra, according to the New York Times:   Michael Mushalla, the company's representative at Columbia Artists Management Inc., which booked the tour, described presenters' reactions as "very strong" but said there had been no cancellations. Several presenters said they had not canceled because they believed negotiations between the company and its musicians were still under way, but there have been no talks since Dec. 4. "If this is in fact a done deal," said Caroline Werth, the president of the Shubert Performing Arts Center in New Haven, Conn., "we plan on contacting all of our ticket holders, explaining the circumstances to the best of our knowledge and asking them if they would still be interested in attending the performance under those circumstances." Ms. Werth said she would consider hiring her own orchestra, as she does for theatrical presentations, if the company and the unions allowed it. Goldman said that he dropped the orchestra because its wages and allotment for daily expenses, which the musicians use to pay their hotel bills, contributed to a $400,000 deficit in the tour's $2 million budget. He said scenery and costume costs had been cut and that Columbia had promised either to raise money from sponsors or lower its commission. He accused the musicians of being intractable. But Marya Columbia, a violinist on the musicians' negotiating committee, said the players had agreed to all of Goldman's wage demands, including freezing their salaries at last year's weekly rate of $819, with $630 in expenses, even though their three-year contract calls for a salary of $849 with expenses of $665. They also agreed to reducing the roster to 27 musicians from 29, she said.

Dec. 18

Abraham Skernick, former principal violist of the Cleveland Orchestra, died on December 13. Carl Shaver, a fundraising consultant whose firm worked for many of the leading cultural institutions in the United States, died on December 6 at the age of 82. According to the New York Times:   On his client list were performing arts organizations, museums and educational institutions. Among them were the New York City Opera, Carnegie Hall, New York City Ballet, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Joffrey Ballet, Philadelphia Orchestra, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Jewish Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, the Mannes School of Music, Cornell University and Swarthmore College. Shaver and his firm were engaged by Carnegie Hall in the early 1980s to help plan its restoration. They conducted a feasibility study and helped to plan a campaign to raise $60 million, $50 million of which was devoted to the restoration. Striking San Francisco Symphony musicians announced another strike concert; this time, a performance of Handel's "Messiah" this coming Saturday, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. They also released a statement:   Here is a message from the Negotiating Committee of the San Francisco Symphony Players Association: There are several major issues: The first is a management demand that we give up a current health insurance plan and move to another company that offers lesser benefits, and would cost us more. Second, we are seeking to revise an overloaded schedule that is creating injuries. Almost 30 percent of the musicians have been affected by work related injuries over the last 12 years. At least 29 members have suffered orthopedic injures in the last ten years, 26 of whom are string players. Several careers have been jeopardized or ended as a result. Fifteen of our players required surgeries. Management has steadfastly refused to acknowledge that the schedule contributes to injury. Third, the musicians are seeking parity with other major American orchestras on other economic issues: pension, salary, seniority pay, and other contractual provisions. In a good faith effort, we decided not to strike when our contract expired on November 23 in the midst of their European tour. Instead, we returned to San Francisco in hopes that management would begin to cooperatively negotiate and end the dispute. When faced with management's unwillingness to address our issues, we had no choice but to strike. Even when we recently proposed moving to a third health plan found by our health care consultant, that would have given us the benefits that we were asking for at a price lower than the plan proposed by management, they still refused to budge on all of the other issues that are at stake here. And despite our gesture of good faith in playing out the tour without a contract, when we struck, they canceled the payment of our health insurance premiums within minutes of that decision. In Atlanta, during a 10-week strike, their management never pulled the plug on their health premiums. The question often is raised: Do we make too much? The answer to the question is: are we worth less than other orchestras in other cities? We are asking for pay and benefits comparable to those in our profession. The management cannot have it both ways. They claim that they have a "world class" orchestra, but they are unwilling to pay what it costs to maintain it. There is always money for their agendas -- tours that lose hundreds of thousands of dollars, massive overtime on tour concerts because of poor planning, large management salaries. But when it comes time for that money to be paid to the musicians for their salaries and benefits, the answer is "no." Please support us in our struggle. Send e-mail to rnward@slip.net or write to the Symphony expressing your support for the musicians: Peter Pastreich Executive Director San Francisco Symphony Davies Symphony Hall San Francisco, CA 94102 415.552.8011 X401 pastreich@sfsymphony.org Nancy Bechtle President, Board of Governors San Francisco Symphony Davies Symphony Hall San Francisco, CA 94102 The San Francisco Chronicle editorialized on the strike today:   ...a vital ingredient of city life has vanished. Music played in garlanded Davies Hall with families listening to ``A Night in Old Vienna'' or Handel's warhorse ``Messiah'' is a feature of the holidays. The Symphony is no less a part of San Francisco than a winning football team or a hilltop view. Now the real world of pensions and salaries has intruded to cancel the rest of the month's performances. No talks are scheduled, and the best bet is that negotiations may not resumed until January. The holiday season is ruined for symphony-goers. Unless the mayor can jumpstart talks or one side budges, San Francisco is in for doleful, silent evenings. The businesses surrounding the symphony hall also are suffering. Relations between management and musicians may only worsen as memories return of a similar strike three years ago. Should the strike become drawn out or bitter, both sides risk damaging the Symphony's golden image. Accusations by both sides of unreasonable salaries and mistreatment are better left to negotiating sessions. The talks should start again now, allegro.

Dec. 17

San Francisco Symphony management has cancelled all the remaining concerts of 1996, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Management's announcement of the cancellation can be found on their web site. The San Francisco Examiner covered the free concert at St. Mary's Cathedral by the striking San Francisco Symphony musicians. The Minnesota Orchestra reported an operating loss of $190,000 on a budget of approximately $23 million for the 1995-96 season - $88,000 less than budget and down from last season's figure of $654,000. At the Minnesota Orchestra Association's annual meeting on December 13, orchestra officials also announced that ta $55 million endowment campaign will be completed by the end of the year and would bring the orchestra's endowment to $94.6 million.

Dec. 16

The company that hosts the ICSOM web site, WebcomCommunications of Santa Cruz CA, was the object of a so-called "SYN Flood" attack for most of December 14 and 15, thus effectively shutting down its 3,000 hosted sites. Welcome to cyberspace. Negotiations between San Francisco Symphony management and musician representatives broke down yesterday, with no further talks scheduled, according to the San Francisco Examiner:   In a standoff that may kill chances for ending the San Francisco Symphony strike until after the holidays, the striking musicians walked out of negotiations at City Hall, after taking offense at a pay and benefits proposal made by the symphony management. The talks, arranged by Mayor Brown in hopes of a quick settlement, instead turned into angry disarray, after eight hours of sluggish negotiations at City Hall Saturday. The chief negotiator for the musicians, Phil Sipser, will fly home to New York Sunday, and no new talks are planned in the strike. The players' three-year contract expired Nov. 23, and the 104 musicians walked off the job on Dec. 5. "We're stuck, I guess," said Karen Ames, spokeswoman for the Symphony, who said the management is still willing to talk, but feels the ball is in the musicians' court. "I don't think there's a plan at the moment." The two sides separated about 5:30 p.m. The musicians were so "disgusted" by the last offer made by management that they walked out, according to Paul Shinoff, a spokesman for the strikers. "We're further away than we ever were," he said. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that symphony management was considering cancelling the remaining concerts of 1996, and that the musicians had made a new proposal on the health insurance issue:   On Saturday, negotiators for the musicians reportedly proposed a third plan, with an unidentified insurer, that they said would be acceptable to them and would cost management no more than the Blue Cross plan. But management wouldn't accept the offer, according to musicians' spokesman Paul Shinoff. ``They looked at it for some time, but never came back with a reply.'' Not so, said Pastreich. ``We said that in principle we would take it. But we first needed to be sure that this was a bona fide company and that the level of benefits would be acceptable.'' Shinoff said that the last offer made by management Saturday on wages and pensions was less than what had been discussed earlier. ``They were doing take-aways,'' he said, citing the point at which musicians left the negotiations. ``Management's final economic offer was so absurd that there wasn't anything more to talk about.'' Pastreich disputed that contention, too. ``Our last offer was an increase from the previous one, and they know it,'' he said.

Dec. 15

San Francisco Symphony management and musician represeentatives met for five hours yeterday in Mayor Willie Brown's office with Brown and the Federal mediator, and were to continue discussions today, according to the San Francisco Examiner:   Brown began the meeting at 3:30 p.m. yesterday by conferring with each side separately, according to participants in the closed sessions. Then he left both parties to continue the negotiations. After the session broke up at 8:30, all sides refused to characterize what progress, if any, had been made. Symphony executive director Peter Pastreich said Brown had been ``helpful, but there are still many issues to be resolved.'' The paper also reported that management had objected to the use of the name "San Francisco Symphony Chorus" to designate the singers in tomorrow's scheduled concert by the striking orchestra musicians at St. Mary's Cathedral. A musician representative said that the Mozart "Requiem" might be dropped from the program and replaced with the Symphony #40. The Vienna Philharmonic, which had threatened to quit the Salzburg Festival because of friction with the artistic director, has negotiated an agreement with festival management to continue in residence until 2001, according to Agence France-Presse:   "Our demands have been satisfied. The extension of our contract has been definitely agreed," said Walter Blovsky, a member of the orchestra's directorate. A joint statement on the outcome of "last ditch" talks between the orchestra, the festival management and the governor of Salzburg province, in progress since Monday, said "the three sides agreed to extend the Philharmonic's contract with the festival from 1997 until 2001... [and] promote the image of the Vienna Philharmonic in all prospectuses and publications as the artistic pillar of the Salzburg Festival". Until recently the orchestra had threatened to no longer take part in the festival because of persistent differences with artistic director Gerard Mortier of Belgium. The latter, who took over the leadership of the festival five years ago, angered the musicians on several occasions, calling them "parasites" and "sacred cows" and by hiring other orchestras for some of the operas, notably the London Philharmonia Orchestra. On Monday, December 16, brass players from the Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Montreal, Savannah, and Atlanta Symphonies will present an All-Star Brass & Percussion Solidarity Christmas Benefit Concert. The New York Times ran an edited version of ICSOM's response to Bernard Holland's "Decline and Fall of the Classical Empire?".

Dec. 14

The San Francisco Examiner covered the first mediation session with Mayor Willie Brown:   Kandace Bender, the mayor's press secretary, described the session scheduled for Friday afternoon as an informational meeting for Brown, who had earlier offered his office and assistance in bringing the two sides back to the bargaining table. Federal mediator Gary Hatall, who attended a bargaining session in late October and has been talking with both sides by telephone this week, also will attend.

Dec. 13

The San Francisco Examiner examined Mayor Willie Brown's stance vis-a-vis the two parties in the San Francisco Symphony strike:   Mayor Brown has turned down a request from striking musicians to help persuade the San Francisco Symphony to resume paying health insurance premiums. Instead, the mayor extended a second invitation to both sides to resume negotiations in his office - with his input and assistance, if necessary. The San Francisco Chronicle confirmed that there would be a meeting with Mayor Willie Brown today. The paper also reviewed last night's free concert by the striking musicians.

Dec. 12

Striking San Francisco Symphony musicians rejected Mayor Willie Brown's offer to mediate their labor dispute, according to the San Francisco Chronicle:   On Tuesday the Symphony announced the cancellation of two Saturday performances of "Peter and the Wolf" by the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, and two Sunday performances of "Candlelight Christmas" by the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, which features volunteer and professional singers, and three striking orchestra members. Executive Director Peter Pastreich said the Symphony "absolutely cannot place our young musicians or our loyal volunteer choristers in the middle of a labor dispute," because of "the certainty of picket lines for both performances." According to sources close to the SFS musicians, though, they have accepted the offer and have a meeting with the mayor scheduled for tomorrow. On the musicians' strike web site is the following announcement:   The musicians' Negotiating Committee will meet on Friday, December 13 (there's a good omen...) at 3:30 pm at the office of San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown with the management of the San Francisco Symphony . Wish us luck. I think we'll need it. San Francisco Symphony management cancelled more performances scheduled for this weekend, according to the San Francisco Examiner:   In a fax sent to Brown's office late Tuesday, violinist Frances Jeffrey, head of the musicians' six- member negotiating committee, said the musicians would wait to meet with federal mediator Gary Hatall, who has been involved in the negotiations since before the strike. Singer Mel Torme, 71, who suffered a stroke earlier this year, returned to a Los Angeles hospital Tuesday for respiratory problems, according to the San Jose Mercury News. The Milwaukee Symphony has appointed Kim Scholes as principal cellist, effective January 15. Scholes, currently associate professor of cello and director of chamber music at Roosevelt University Chicago Musical College, will succeed Ron Shawger, who left the orchestra because of the effects of contracting multiple sclerosis. The New England Conservatory of Music has appointed Dr. Robert Freeman as president-designate effective January 1, 1997. Freeman has been the director of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York since 1972, and replaces Laurence Lesser, who joined the faculty in 1974 and became president in 1983.

Dec. 11

The San Francisco Symphony annouced more concert cancellations according to the San Francisco Chronicle:   The San Francisco Symphony has canceled performances of the Youth Symphony ``Peter and the Wolf,'' scheduled for 1 and 4 p.m. Saturday, and the Symphony Chorus performance of ``Candlelight Christmas,'' scheduled for 3 and 7 p.m. Sunday. The performances were canceled because no further talks are scheduled in the Symphony's 6-day-old strike. The musicians put out two press releases, one on December 7 and one on December 9 on management's cancelling their health insurance. According to the statements:   Musicians called the cancellation a spiteful act of retribution.. "This is part and parcel of their attempt to intimidate musicians who are simply carrying out their constitutional right to strike." said musicians negotiator Phil Sipser. The cancellation is particularly malicious because health care is the main point of contention in the dispute. The musicians rejected management's attempt to move them from their current health plan and institute another that would cost more money and provide fewer benefits. Many of the players suffer from work-related orthopedic injuries exasperated by an overloaded schedule. Some 30 percent of the players have suffered from muscular and repetitive stress injuries, said violinist Frances Jeffrey, chair of the negotiating committee. Jeffrey, a violinist, wears arm braces when she sleeps as part of a costly therapy that allows her to perform. Cancellation of health insurance in strike situations -- particularly at the beginning of a dispute -- is not common. Atlanta management did not cancel health insurance during a recently resolved 10-week strike. Philadelphia Orchestra management did threaten to cancel insurance during a just-concluded nine-week walk-out, but reneged following the intervention of the mayor of that city. Musicians spokesperson Paul Shinoff said the cancellation revealed the vengeful nature of the symphony management. They are trying to punish musicians for sticking up for their rights," Shinoff said. "Management is acting more in the tradition of coal mine operators than managers of an arts organization," he said.

Dec. 10

San Francisco mayor Willie Brown has offered to mediate the San Francisco Symphony labor dispute, according to the San Francisco Examiner:   "Given the Symphony's utmost importance to the cultural life and reputation of The City, especially in light of its triumphant European tour and the spirit of the holiday season, I believe it's imperative that the players in this dispute reach an agreement as quickly as possible," Brown said in a statement Monday. "Therefore, with the best of intentions, I offer my office as a neutral setting for continued dialogue." "We appreciate his interest, and we will have to wait now for the negotiating committee to discuss it and decide," said Paul Shinoff, spokesman for the musicians. Frances Jeffrey, the chief negotiator for the musicians, declined to comment until the rest of the negotiating committee had a chance to review the mayor's offer. Peter Pastreich, the Symphony's executive director, said he welcomed Brown's involvement and hoped it would get the two sides back to the bargaining table. No talks have been held since the strike began Thursday. "We've called the mayor and let him know we welcome the offer and will be in his office in the morning or whenever (the musicians) are available," Pastreich said. "We've always been available to meet." In the same article, the paper quoted musicians and management on management's decision to stop paying the musicians' health insurance premiums:   Bassoonist Rob Weir stood outside Davies Symphony Hall in the chilling rain with his wife and 8-month-old son at his side and railed at the halt in payments for medical care that will now cost him $884 a month. "This to me is a gesture of bad faith," said the 38-year-old Weir, explaining that his son, Jacob, had had six operations for a urinary bowel deformity and was facing yet another. Many musicians said management had never withdrawn insurance payments in previous strikes. "I've worked here for 15 years, and I never thought this would happen," said violist Nanci Severance. Karen Ames, a spokeswoman for the Symphony, said times had changed since the strikes of 1988 and 1993. "The Symphony is in a very different financial situation," she said. "We have accumulated a deficit of $3 million...Our hearts go out to Rob Weir. He's a member of our family. We do know this is a difficult time for him, but his health insurance can continue unchanged." The San Francisco Chronicle analysed the health care issue that appears to be central to the San Francisco Symphony strike.   ``The benefit structure of the Blue Cross plan is not as good in general as the benefit structure of the Aetna plan,'' says Jack Loos, a health care consultant hired by the musicians. ``Blue Cross will cost the musicians more money out of pocket, and there are more limits on coverage and more deductibles than Aetna. There is enough difference between the Aetna and Blue Cross plans that I could not in all conscience tell them (the musicians) they weren't going to see any difference.'' Not so, says Symphony Executive Director Peter Pastreich. ``We think the plans are almost the same,'' he says. Under their old contract, the musicians could choose between two Aetna plans, one a preferred provider package (PPO), the other an HMO, and Kaiser Permanente. The majority of the orchestra has the Aetna PPO plan. But the Aetna premiums have shot up 14 percent, and Pastreich says the Symphony can't afford them.

Dec. 9

San Francisco Supervisor Angela Alioto said she will propose emergency legislation at Monday's Board of Supervisors meeting, ordering Symphony officials to continue paying for health care of striking members, according to the San Francisco Examiner.   "The players are shocked. That's mean. Without getting into any specifics, some of the members have some real health needs. That's a little below the belt, really malicious."

Dec. 9

Striking San Francisco Symphony musicians fleshed out their plans for free concerts, according to the San Francisco Chronicle:   Members of the orchestra will give a free concert at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Old St. Mary's Cathedral, featuring music by Johann Topff, Mozart, Debussy and Mendelssohn. Then at 6 p.m. Saturday, the musicians are planning a chamber music marathon at the Noe Valley Ministry, 1021 Sanchez. Programming for that event is still undecided. The musicians' strike page has more details, as well as an announcement of a joint benefit concert with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus on December 15. The San Francisco Symphony management page has a short announcement about the strike as well. Jody Doherty has returned to the Pittsburgh Symphony in the newly created position of Vice President for Public Affairs, effective January 6, 1997. Between October 1994 and December 1995, Ms. Doherty had been Director of Communications for the Symphony. Atlanta Symphony musicians released a settlement bulletin.

Dec. 8

Whether or not the reports of our death are greatly exaggerated, the avalanche of negative analyses continues. The New York Times, after its "Decline and Fall of Classical Empire?" article of a month ago, today carried a gloomy analysis of the problems of the classical recording industry by Allan Kozinnw, while the Los Angeles Times ran an equally gloomy piece of the problems of the classical radio business by Mark Swed. Striking San Francisco Symphony musicians released a schedule of free holiday concerts. According to the San Francisco Examiner,   [it was] an accouncement that raised management's hackles because the orchestra is scheduled to perform at Davies Symphony Hall on two of those days. The striking musicians will perform at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Old St. Mary's Cathedral; next Saturday at the Noe Valley Ministry, time to be announced; and Dec. 15 at 4 p.m. at Old St. Mary's. Some members of the San Francisco Symphony chorus are expected to join the musicians at the Sunday show for a "Candlelight Christmas" concert. "My only comment is that we have concerts on those days," Symphony spokeswoman Karen Ames said Friday. "We have an open rehearsal in the morning and a concert scheduled for the evening of Dec. 11, and a candlelight Christmas concert on Dec. 15. At this point we have not canceled those concerts." '

Dec. 7

Musicians of the Cleveland Orchestra voted this afternoon to ratify a new labor agreement. Striking San Francisco Symphony musicians received certified letters today cancelling their health insurance, but, because of the so-called "COBRA" legislation, retain the option to pay the premiums themselves. The San Francisco musicians will picket tonight's "Deck the Halls" childrens' show at Davies Symphony Hall. Some participants, both union and non-union, have decided not to cross the musicians' picket line, even though the orchestra was never scheduled to be part of the event. According to the San Francisco Chronicle,   ``We're only picketing Symphony-sponsored events,'' said violinist Frances Jeffrey, a member of the orchestra's negotiating committee. The San Francisco Boys Chorus was slated to perform but decided yesterday to cancel. ``We don't think it's a good idea to cross a picket line,'' said Samira Baroody, president of the Boys Chorus board. ``The boys are musicians and many will probably grow up to become professional musicians.'' Three Symphony stagehands, members of Theatrical Stage Employees Local 16, were scheduled to work today's show but will honor the picket line. Said Symphony executive director Peter Pastreich: ``We've asked our employees to come to work and we hope they do. It's not a big production. If they (the stagehands) don't come we can still put on the show.'' The Chronicle also ran an analysis of the national orchestra labor situation and the health care issue that is a major focus of the current dispute. A group of New World Symphony musicians have set up a web page to present some issues regarding their employment status.

Dec. 6

The San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner had continuing coverage of the San Francisco Symphony strike. According to the Examiner,   Nearly all the San Francisco Symphony's 104 striking musicians hit the streets Thursday evening in their concert performance clothes to protest stalled negotiations with management over issues of wages, benefits and work hours. A few ticket holders who hadn't heard the news arrived at Davies Symphony Hall for Thursday's canceled all-Mozart concert to find the musicians carrying picket signs and playing taps. "It feels like we have to do this every three years," said Mariko Smiley, a violinist with the Symphony for 14 years. "It's very discouraging. That shouldn't have to happen." The Chronicle reported that the major sticking point was health insurance, as it was during the orchestra's last work stoppage three years ago.   ``After three days of continuous bargaining, management refuses to address our major issues of concern,'' said Paul Shinoff, a spokesman for the musicians, who are members of the American Federation of Musicians, Local 6. The primary issue, Shinoff said, is the musicians' health care package. Symphony management wants to switch coverage from Aetna to Blue Cross, which the musicians say would cost them more and provide fewer benefits. ``To keep Aetna would be a 14 percent increase in our (health care) costs,'' said Symphony executive director Peter Pastreich. ``We simply can't afford it. ``We've managed to negotiate an extremely good deal with Blue Cross that is absolutely the equivalent of the Aetna plan.''   Talks between the musicians and management of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa have broken off, with no new negotiations scheduled. The musicians' press release states   Members of the Orchestra are being asked by the Centre to accept serious cuts to their contract conditions. While they are fully aware of the economic climate under which the Centre must operate and are fully prepared to play their role in the fiscal and economic success of the NAC, the musicians are reluctant to compromise the integrity and stature of the Orchestra, as would be the case if they accepted the offer presented to them by the Centre. At stake is the Orchestra's ability to rank among the best of professional orchestras, and thus the ability to attract the best players, soloists and conductors for audiences at the NAC.

Dec. 5	San Francisco Symphony musicians are on strike as of tonight.There is a story in the San Francisco The management's take on their settlement is posted on their web site.

Dec. 4

Atlanta Symphony musicians voted to accept the labor agreement agreed to by their negotiating committee and the orchestra's management on December. 2. According to the Atlanta Constitution,   The new contract calls for a wage freeze the first year, 2 percent salary increases each of the next two years and a 4 percent increase the final year. But the strike was as much about the threat of downsizing the orchestra as it was about money, said double bassist Douglas Sommer, president of the ASO Players' Association. And there will be no downsizing with the new contract, which maintains the ensemble at a minimum of 95 musicians, and keeps the tenure period at the industry standard of two years. "This is a victory for us in that we feel that this agreement will allow us to maintain our position among this country's great orchestras," Sommer said.

Dec. 3	Atlanta Symphony management and the orchestra musicians' negotiating committee agreed on terms for a new labor agreement last night. If ratified by the orchestra musicians in a vote conducted over today and tomorrow, the agreement will end the orchestra's ten-week strike. The musicians of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa have set up a web page.

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