On May 28, 2009, the musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra ratified an amended agreement that freezes the 2009-10 salary at 2008-09 levels and extends the agreement for one year where increases will now occur in the 2010-11 season. The Electronic Media Guarantee of $30 per week (and increased to $35 per week in 2009-10) becomes $0 effective May 27, 2009 through September 18, 2011.
This ‘non-negotiation’ was an unusual experience for those accustomed to normal negotiations. Neither the musicians nor management wanted to re-open the entire Trade Agreement; management because of the length of time it could take as the organization continued to lose money, and the musicians because they did not want to re-open provisions such as pension or health insurance, or to make permanent modifications regarding overtime and extra concerts. “We’d like to thank you for what you’ve chosen to do, but we have to tell it’s not enough”, became a frequent refrain from the management side of the table. The musicians understood the challenges the Association was facing, particularly cash-flow, and many musicians were extremely concerned about the 12 staff members that were fired. Because of this, the musicians were willing to contemplate temporary give-backs, and although the contract modifications could not completely cover the gaps in the budget (the deficit must be no more than 0.5% in a year to comply with the terms of the Annenberg Foundation endowment gift restrictions), this puts the Association on a solid footing. This also now challenges the board of directors to step up their funding as well as position the organization to go to outside funders for bridge funding to get the orchestra through this crisis.
| [2008-09] | 2009-10 | 2010-11 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Length of Season | [53 wks] | 52 wks | 52 wks |
| WAGES | |||
| Annual Salary | [$127,200] | $124,800 | $130,780 |
| Weekly Salary | [$2,400] | $2,400 | $2,510/$2,520 (9.20.10/3.21.11) |
| EMG | [$30/wk]* | 0 | 0 |
*EMG is eliminated as of May 29, 2009 [was: $30/wk.
in 2008-09 and $35/wk. in 2009-10] |
|||
PENSION: Philadelphia froze their private plan in 2004. Members retiring at age 60 (full retirement at age 60 with 30 years of service) will continue to receive the combined POA/AFM-EPF benefit of $75,000 as stipulated in the agreement. There is an additional retirement incentive for those who retire during the course of the extension; the total combined benefit will be $80,000.
AFM-EPF contributions, which currently stand at 8.08% will not increase to 13.125% as was anticipated due to the benefit tracking clause in the CBA but will remain at 8.08% for the duration of the contract extension.
WORKING CONDITIONS:
- In the 2008-09 season overtime was waived on 7 occasions (for an approximate savings of $20,000). In the 2009-10 season three 5-minute segments will be added to the single segment (already allowed in the CBA) of unpaid overtime allowed for Mahler 3.
- In the 2008-09 season extra concert fees have been waived three times in exchange for reducing the rehearsal count (from 4 to 3). In the 2009-10 season three weeks may have an unpaid extra concert in exchange for reducing the rehearsal count from 4 to 3 in those weeks.
- In all years there may be some reduction in the size of the string complement for certain programs including amplified summer concerts and some Baroque and Classical programs.
MISCELLANEOUS:
- Musicians are encouraged to voluntarily donate to the Annual Giving Fund for each season. “The Association gratefully acknowledges the generous pledges made by the Musicians in an amount in excess of $500,000 for the first twelve months of this MoU.”
- Thanks to a generous sponsorship by the City of Philadelphia and as a part of the orchestra’s successful effort to retain their summer season at the Mann Music Center to avoid furlough weeks, the orchestra will perform an extra unpaid concert on September, 20, 2009 (on the last day of the 2008-09 season) as a benefit concert for the fallen officers of the police and firefighting departments of the city. This requires ending the 2008-09 vacation one day early.
Thanks to the negotiating team: John Koen, Chair; Jonathan Beiler, David Fay, Jeffrey Lang and William Polk and to the musician board representatives Gloria de Pasquale and Daniel Matsukawa, whose help was crucial to the process. Thanks also to Local #77 President Joe Parente and Attorney Susan Martin.
This bulletin was prepared by ICSOM Secretary, Laura Ross with the assistance of the Philadelphia Orchestra ICSOM Delegate, John Koen.