Musicians Orchestrate New Score on Pay: ‘Hiss’

Saturday night’s taste of victory that hinted at a “new era” turned sour for San Diego Symphony musicians Tuesday, when they learned that management still plans to sock them with a 19% pay cut for the rest of the season.

At issue is a labor contract signed almost three years ago. It called for increases in pay of $5 a week the first two years but a sizable jump of $27 a week for the current year, plus an increase in the length of the season from 38 to 45 weeks. Orchestra members say management had two years to prepare for the pay increases, and they view with skepticism efforts by management to alter that contract.

Representatives of the 90-member orchestra say they were surprised to learn that, after the successful emergency fund drive that generated more than $2.1 million in cash and pledges, management still intends to impose a 10% pay cut that is retroactive to the beginning of the season. The 19% figure comes from making the pay cut retroactive.

Musicians responded with loud hissing before a rehearsal Tuesday morning when a letter was read from symphony management suggesting that negotiations on the pay cut begin. According to bassist Greg Berton, music director David Atherton said he had just heard the news and was “disgusted.” Atherton immediately canceled the rehearsal.

That action was in direct contrast to Saturday night, when a grateful Atherton told a concert audience of the fund drive’s success, which signaled “this evening’s concert will not be the penultimate concert. It will be the beginning of a whole new era for this orchestra.” Efforts to reach Atherton on Tuesday were unsuccessful.

The brewing storm had its beginnings on Feb. 24, when symphony President M.B. (Det) Merryman met with representatives of the musicians and told them that, if the orchestra was to continue to meet its obligations, there was no choice but to reduce the season by four weeks--a figure equal to a 10% pay cut. “I think the union and orchestra committee were very receptive” to the announcement, Merryman told the press at that time.

Three days later, Merryman announced that the symphony would file for bankruptcy if it could not raise $2 million in 12 days. The pay cut, he said, was a “Band-Aid” solution. “Our inability to deal with the deficit is the problem. . . . We need a total solution. I am not as concerned with the payroll. Without the $2 million, we cannot sustain a 45-week payroll,” he said.

Asked Tuesday if there was any likelihood that musicians’ representatives would agree to a cut, Berton said, “not until next year,” in reference to the expiration of the current contract Sept 1. However, he said he was willing to sit down with symphony executives to hear what they have to say.

Richard Bass, executive director of the symphony, said that the current operational budget was predicated on erasing the $2-million deficit and on the 10% retroactive pay cut for the staff and the musicians. “(The budget) was based on the cash needs to run a 41- rather than a 45-week season,” Bass said.

Orchestra members disagreed that they ever were “receptive” to the board of directors’ pay-cut proposal. “Their proposal was a unilateral action,” Berton said. “Merryman told (us) that he didn’t care what our response was, that the salaries were going to be cut.

“As far as we’re concerned, he made a promise to the community and to the musicians. The plan to cut the pay is backing out on a promise to provide the community with a first-class orchestra. It makes no sense to start out after the (weekend’s fund-raising) victory by taking two steps backward.

“In the original press conference, Det Merryman said the problem was not operating the symphony. He said the problem was the deficit. Now he’s saying the problem is running the orchestra. It’s a complete change of face.”

Merryman declined to discuss labor relations with the press.

One orchestra committee member, bassoonist Arlen Fast, said that management appeared to want out of its contract. “We gave them two years of 1% to 3% increases in weekly wages to allow them to make the leap in the third year,” Fast said. “We feel we have done everything in our power to uphold our share of the bargain. (The large third-year pay jump) is the carrot on the stick that has kept a lot of players here.”

Fast compared management to someone who has purchased an expensive automobile: “That’s like buying a Jaguar and halfway through the payment schedule, deciding you’d rather make the payments on a Pinto.”

Musicians’ representatives also questioned why salaries were being cut. As a percentage of the symphony budget, they have been decreasing. “When the current contract began, orchestra salaries were about 49% of the budget. Now they’re only 37%,” Berton said.

Concerts are scheduled for Thursday, Friday and Saturday.