Late Monday (10/24) on Business First online (Louisville, Kentucky), Stephanie Clouser writes, “Management of The Louisville Orchestra Inc. will begin hiring permanent replacements for its current musicians, the orchestra announced Monday. Today’s announcement came only three days after the orchestra announced that the musicians had accepted a tentative deal that would have avoided the move. In a news release, orchestra management said the Louisville Federation of Musicians Local 11-637 rejected its final proposal. … Kim Tichenor, a violinist who is chairwoman of the musicians’ negotiating committee, said the musicians had voted to accept management’s offer of hiring all musicians left in the area and voluntarily cutting the size of the orchestra to 55 by June 2013. But, she said, musicians did not accept the overall deal because factors such as health benefits and life insurance were not adequately explained in the orchestra’s offer. ‘The offer itself was in a lot of sections extremely vague,’ Tichenor said. … ” Orchestra president and CEO Robert Birman states that musicians accepted management’s proposed contract via voicemail, but later “presented management with a contract that would guarantee work for any number of current musicians who wished to play for the orchestra through the duration of the contract, which would expire in 2017. After that, the number would be cut to 55 musicians. Orchestra management extended the deadline for the orchestra’s original proposal to Sunday at 4 p.m., when the union rejected that proposal, Birman said.”
Posted October 25, 2011
