I’m pleased to report that the Concert Department recently concluded some long outstanding negotiations. First up is a new three-year deal we closed in November with the Bronx Arts Ensemble in which we gained 5 percent increases in the performance rate, 5.5 percent in rehearsals, and a $2 bump in health benefits in each of years two and three. Also in November, following two years of negotiations, we closed a deal with the American Composers Orchestra. The agreement preserves scale rates and also includes overscale payments for Zankel Hall concerts and the fund-mandated increase in health benefit contributions.

Local 802 and The Orchestra of St. Luke’s have reached a tentative agreement which is in the ratification process as of this writing. Luke’s has undergone some significant changes over the last several years, and the contract needed to reflect those changes. Besides gaining increases in overscale and chamber music scale, we had to revise health benefit language to meet new guidelines mandated by the fund trustees as well as change the health benefit “shortfall funds” language (see below for more on that). Additional modifications to the contract include an expansion of the “B” list to full orchestra instrumentation, new anti-harassment and non-discrimination language, and a completely new musician status, called “Ensemble-Mentor.”

We are nearing a tentative agreement with the New Jersey Festival Orchestra following a seven-year battle. The expired contract language and contract administration have been problematic for years. Our main objective was to eliminate an intolerable three-tier wage scheme, which was put in place many years ago with the intention of “helping” management improve their financial position and to resolve the previous course of very lengthy negotiations. As we know, the path to hell is paved with good intentions, and this was obviously and immediately deemed a huge mistake which cost us dearly. I am happy to say that we were able to eradicate that language, but we continue to face a mind-numbing number of difficulties with NJFO management. As is often the case with tough negotiations, the strength and persistence of the Orchestra Committee carried us through. Daryl Goldberg, Valerie Levy, Julie Goodale, Svjetlana Kabalin and Brad Siroky have shown exceptional fortitude and patience throughout, as has our attorney Steve Farkas, who was brought in this year to help us navigate the issues.

The contract covers the 2023-2026 seasons and includes wage increases in each of the three years. We were able to clarify hiring language and codified explicit seating language for the string sections. Health and safety language and the non- discrimination language have been strengthened.

Separately but related, as the job was hired through NJFO management, we were able to get this year’s “Salute to Vienna” concert at Geffen Hall paid under the terms of the Local 802 Single Engagement Contract.

Of the two boilerplate single engagement contracts, the New York Pops is currently in negotiations. We are preparing to go to the table with ABT in March.

SHORTFALL FUNDS

Some significant changes to our shortfall funds are coming next year. As most of you know, keeping the Local 802 Health Fund solvent has been extremely challenging through times of sharply rising health care costs and lower employer contributions exacerbated by the Covid pandemic. The fund trustees have been examining and debating the viability of the health benefits shortfall fund language for many years. The shortfall amount provided to musicians through some of the freelance orchestras was intended to help musicians whose employer contributions fell just a bit short of the required amount for staying on or reaching Plan A or Plan B. We know that those funds have been extremely helpful to many musicians over the years, particularly during the pandemic. However, the trustees found that some changes needed to be made to make the language come closer to its original intent. Starting Jan. 1, 2025, the maximum a musician will be able to request for a shortfall is $250 per six-month period. Freelance musicians will receive official notification of the mandated change from the union trustees later this year, and the modified language will be added to our contracts as they expire over the next few years.

COMMITTEE TRAINING

I am delighted to announce that the Concert Department is instituting mandatory training for all new orchestra committees. Fortunately, we can obtain this training free of charge through the director of the AFM’s Symphonic Services Division, Rochelle Skolnick. The newly elected DCINY Orchestra Committee is the first Local 802 committee to benefit from this training. The intensive two-hour course covers an array of topics from committee responsibilities, to duty of fair representation, to grievance handling. The committee is now armed with plenty of good information and an excellent overview of their responsibilities. We all learned something, and I’m excited to have more committees receive this training as the year progresses.