April 25, 2008

PRESS RELEASE

CENTRAL OHIO FEDERATION OF MUSICIANS LOCAL 103 A.F. OF M.

1585 BETHEL RD., SUITE 100-COLUMBUS, OHIO 43220-2010 – PHONE: (614) 457-6371 – FAX: 457-6372

Douglas J. Fisher
President

Vaughn F. Wiester
Secretary-Treasurer

Michael Buccicone
Vice-President

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 25, 2008

Columbus Symphony Musicians Unanimously Vote to Reject Board’s “Final Offer”

Last night, the members of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra unanimously voted by secret ballot to reject the CSO Board’s “final offer” for a new contract which would take effect next season. The offer called for a 40% annual salary cut from all 53 Full-Time Musicians with no restoration in additional years. The current minimum annual salary is $55,200. Under the Board’s proposal it would be slashed to $33,000. The Board’s offer would also require Musicians to pay 30% of their monthly health insurance premiums, up to $480 per month for Musicians with family coverage. In addition, the wages per rehearsal and concert for part time Musicians would be reduced from $150 to $100. The value of these cuts from the Musician’s pockets would be approximately $1.4 million for next season.

Previously the Board rejected the Musician’s proposal to accept a 6.5% annual salary cut, to reduce monthly health insurance payments in return, but to share in future premium increases, and to leave vacant any non-principal chair during long term leaves of absence throughout the contract. Depending on the final number of vacancies, this would result in savings next season of approximately $500,000. Three years ago, the Musicians agreed to an 11% annual salary cut which resulted in total savings over the past two and a half years of $1.3 million.

Early in the negotiation process, the Musicians proposed that a third party consultant who specializes in orchestra management be selected by mutual agreement and brought in to evaluate the situation and to make recommendations to both the Board and the Musicians. The Board immediately rejected that proposal insisting that no assistance was needed to resolve matters. They later offered to accept the assistance of a consultant, but only in the future after a new contract is reached.

The Board has told the Musicians that there may not be enough money to continue operations beyond the end of this month without agreement on a new contract for next season. Because the Board’s proposal was presented as a “final offer”, they will not consider any further proposals from the Musicians.

Douglas Fisher, President of the Central Ohio Federation of Musicians, Local 103 AFM, the union which represents the CSO Musicians stated, “We are disappointed that the Board has rejected immediate assistance from an orchestra management consultant to advise both them and the Musicians. The longer this crisis continues the more Musicians we will lose. So far we have lost four high-profile Musicians to other full time jobs next season and that number will likely increase. It has taken decades for this small group of Musicians to develop into the high quality ensemble that it is today. Because there are only 53 full time Musicians, losing even a small number of them has a profound effect on the orchestra’s quality.”

Jim Akins, Chair of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra Committee and Principal Tuba said, “Key economic data even in today’s economy proves that central Ohio has the means to support this orchestra at an even higher level and that our region is as strong economically as the four major cities which surround it. Yet the orchestra’s annual budget is two to three times smaller than the orchestras in those cities. Central Ohio deserves an orchestra of high quality and I hope that those who care will step up and refuse to let it die”.

For further information please contact Douglas Fisher at 614-783-3684 or Jim Akins at 614-361-1481. Also, please visit www.symphonymusicians.com, the official website of the CSO Musicians for detailed financial information on the CSO and how it compares to surrounding cities.

####

How does the CSO compare to the four major cities which surround it?

- The economy of the Columbus region is stronger than, or on par with, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Indianapolis, and Pittsburgh.

- The annual budgets of the orchestras from those other cities range from $27 to $42 million. The Columbus budget is $12 million.

- The minimum salaries in those other cities range from $75 to $110 thousand each year. Columbus musicians earn $55 thousand.

- The number of full-time musicians in those other cities range from 87 to 100. Columbus has 53

- The endowments of those other cities are all over $100 million. Columbus has only $14 million left, which is held in trust by the Columbus Foundation, after spending all of its unrestricted endowment to pay for the deficits from the past several years.

- Of the top 50 orchestras in the USA, Columbus ranks 26th in annual salary and 48th in number of full-time musicians

Sources:
+ U.S. Census Data, www.factfinder.census.gov
* American Federation of Musicians, www.afm.org

City Comparison by County

*All figures obtained from the 2006 U.S. Census found at www.factfinder.census.gov.

+Cost of living comparison value found at Sperling’s Bestplaces – www.bestplaces.net/col/

**All figures obtained from American Federation of Musicians’ “Wage Scales and Conditions in the Symphony Orchestra” for ICSOM Orchestras, 2006-2007 Season.

A Ten Year Look at Columbus Symphony Finances

Total Income and Expense figures are from Audit reports provided by the CSO.
Total Musician Expense figures from expense statements provided by the CSO.

Over the past ten years:
Total Expense has increased an average of 5.5% each year.
Total Non-Musician Expense has increased an average of 7% each year.
Total Musician Expense has increased an average of 4% each year.
Total Income has increased an average of 2.7% each year.

1997-1998 Season
Total Income $8,239,030
Total Expense 8,080,911
Total Musician Expense 3,758,019
Percentage of Total Expense for Musician Expense 47%
Total Surplus for the Season 158,119

1998-1999 Season
Total Income $9,115,917
Total Expense 8,458,399
Total Musician Expense 3,771,371
Percentage of Total Expense for Musician Expense 45%
Total Surplus for the Season 657,518

1999-2000 Season
Total Income $9,217,966
Total Expense 8,733,148
Total Musician Expense 4,099,746
Percentage of Total Expense for Musician Expense 47%
Total Surplus for the Season 484,818

2000-2001 Season
Total Income $10,655,757
Total Expense 10,556,647Total Musician Expense 4,573,748
Percentage of Total Expense for Musician Expense 43%
Total Surplus for the Season 99,110

2001-2002 Season
Total Income $10,402,520
Total Expense 10,379,212
Total Musician Expense 4,628,891
Percentage of Total Expense for Musician Expense 45%
Total Surplus for the Season 23,308

2002-2003 Season
Total Income $9,769,816
Total Expense 11,072,526
Total Musician Expense 4,965,135
Percentage of Total Expense for Musician Expense 45%
Total Loss for the Season ($1,302,710)

2003-2004 Season (*14 months of data, see note below)
Total Income $13,879,645
Total Expense 14,783,795
Total Musician Expense 5,929,207
Percentage of Total Expense for Musician Expense 40%
Total Loss for the Season ($904,150)

2004-2005 Season
Total Income $12,225,263
Total Expense 12,525,073
Total Musician Expense 4,945,016
Percentage of Total Expense for Artistic Staff Expense 39%
Total Loss for the Season ($299,810)

2005-2006 Season
Total Income $11,816,696
Total Expense 12,639,062
Total Musician Expense 5,028,589
Percentage of Total Expense for Artistic Staff Expense 39%
Total Loss for the Season ($822,366)

2006-2007 Season
Total Income $10,436,301
Total Expense 12,610,768
Total Musician Expense 5,271,660
Percentage of Total Expense for Artistic Staff Expense 42%
Total Loss for the Season ($2,174,467)

*Note: From 1997-98 to 2002-03, the fiscal year began on July 1st and ended on June 30th. In 2003-04, the end date was extended to August 31st and the figures for this year contain 14 months of data. For all seasons thereafter, the fiscal year began on September 1st and ended on August 31st.

Accumulated Deficit since June 30, 2002 = $5,503,503

Average Annual Loss since June 30, 2002 = $1,100,700

March 15, 2008

The Columbus Dispatch - Balance A Top Goal In Symphony Stories?

Today a commentary appeared in the Columbus Dispatch with the truly laughable title, "Balance a top goal in Symphony stories" by Editor Mary Lynn Plageman. Since the Columbus Dispatch, in collusion with the management and board of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, broke the first story on the board and management's plan to fire 22 of us and exact a 30% cut in salary and benefits from the rest, all of their reporting has been completely one-sided.

Official spokespersons for the musicians have spent hours speaking with Dispatch reporters on the record, but despite that fact, few quotes have been printed while numerous and lengthy quotes by the board and management have appeared. Since they broke the story last January, the musicians have issued two press releases. Both were completely ignored by the Dispatch.

In response to their grand editorial trumpeting the paper's support of the board and management's plan, we requested an op-ed piece of equal length and submitted two rebuttals from the Chairman and General Counsel of the International Conference of Symphony and Opera Musicians. The Dispatch rejected our request and refused to print either rebuttal.

Finally in a last-ditch effort to convey our side of the story, we requested and were granted a meeting with the Dispatch Editorial Board. In that meeting the editors politely listened and asked intelligent questions which led us to believe that they finally understood the true problems facing the CSO from our perspective. But yesterday's front page story confirmed that nothing has changed and the Dispatch continues to report only one side of the story.

Though there is much in yesterday's story to rebut, the most shocking omission is the fact that early this week we finally received from the management and board, after weeks of classic union-busting tactics, a formal request to meet with them to discuss the situation in accordance with our contract. The day before the Dispatch story appeared, we accepted their request and offered to meet with them as early as this Monday. None of this was reported by the Dispatch and instead, a quote from Executive Director Tony Beadle, falsely claiming that we have refused for weeks to meet with them, was printed.

The Columbus Dispatch has no interest in balanced reporting and today's commentary is an admission of this truth. Why else would they print this defensive piece the day after their latest attack on the musicians?

February 26, 2008

Columbus Symphony Musicians Vote To Allow Live Recording

Next week’s Columbus Symphony Orchestra program will be recorded live for the international recording company Denon, which will release it on compact disc. At the personal request of Music Director Junichi Hirokami, the Musicians voted to allow this recording under a new national recording agreement which allows live recordings to be produced for a tenth of what a normal studio recording of the same program would cost.

“Although the Musicians will be paid far less than usual for this recording, we want to memorialize the artistic summit achieved by the CSO, which has taken decades to reach, before it may be destroyed next season by controlling members of the CSO Board and Executive Director Tony Beadle, who are publicly advocating the firing of 22 Musicians at the end of this summer”, said Douglas Fisher, a member of the orchestra and President of the Central Ohio Federation of Musicians, the Musician’s Union.

Most of the recording expenses will be personally underwritten by former CSO Board Chair Gene D’Angelo. “We are most grateful to Gene for his long standing support of the CSO”, said Jim Akins, Chair of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra Committee, which represents the Musicians. “Gene personifies the high degree of passion and commitment for the orchestra that the present leadership lacks, and which is so desperately needed.”

The CSO will record Symphony No. 5 and the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture by Peter Tchaikovsky for the Denon release. George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue will also be recorded for possible release in the future.

For further information please contact Douglas Fisher at 614-783-3684 or Jim Akins at 614-361-1481. Also, please visit www.symphonymusicians.com, the official website of the CSO Musicians.

January 29, 2008

HUNDREDS FROM AROUND THE WORLD RALLY TO SUPPORT THE COLUMBUS SYMPHONY MUSICIANS AND CONDEMN THE BOARD'S FUTURE PLANS

Since the announcement by the Board of the Columbus Symphony Orchestra less than two weeks ago of their intention to fire 22 Musicians at the end of this August and impose an almost 30% salary and benefit cut from the remaining 31 Musicians by cutting 12 weeks from next season, interest and support has poured in from all over the country and as far away as London and Berlin condemning the Board's plan.

The plan was developed in secret over many weeks and the Musicians and Music Director were deliberately excluded from the planning process. "No orchestra has ever solved its problems on the backs of Musicians", said Douglas Fisher, a member of the orchestra and President of AFM Local 103, the union which represents the Musicians. "The cuts sought by the Board would be devastating to the Musicians and their families and we will not accept them because they will destroy the high artistic quality which has taken decades to build. The deliberate exclusion of the Musicians, the one group of constituents who possess the greatest institutional memory and experience, is evidence of the Board's incompetence and negligence."

Only two and a half years ago, the Musicians agreed to accept salary and benefit cuts worth $1.3 million in return for the Board's assurance that this donation would enable them to leverage additional support and thus stabilize and advance the orchestra in the future. "The Board failed to keep this promise", said James Akins, Principal Tuba and Chair of the Orchestra Committee, which is elected by the Musicians to represent their interests. "Instead of raising money and hiring the right people to run the orchestra, they continued to burn what little endowment was left and hired unqualified and inexperienced people to fill critical Management vacancies. This is not a financial problem, this is a governance problem".

For more detailed and complete information, click here.