Musician-Management Relations Sour : Orchestra Committee Says Fiscal Crisis Has Aggravated Problems

The San Diego Symphony’s fiscal crisis has aggravated an already-rocky relationship between management and orchestra musicians, the musicians say.

On Wednesday, members of the orchestra committee, which represents the 89 musicians on the symphony’s payroll, said labor relations have gotten worse--not better--since the successful crash fund-raising drive to save the symphony.

“At this point, we’re barely on speaking terms,” said Greg Berton, a bassist and orchestra committee member. “We have a huge stack of grievances at the union hall.”

Symphony President M.B. (Det) Merryman acknowledged the strained relations, but added that he didn’t think they were terrible.

“I think it is very strained right now,” said Merryman. “We’ve just come out of a rather difficult crisis. We have asked the orchestra to consider cutting a certain number of contracted weeks. That, by nature, would cause a strain.”

A month ago, orchestra members agreed to play without pay for two weeks while the symphony board raised $2 million to satisfy a long-term debt. In addition, Berton said, the musicians agreed to an all-Beethoven program March 6 through 10 because it would be more popular than the scheduled concert featuring a contemporary piano concerto, which required paying a soloist a fee the symphony couldn’t afford.

Changing the program required the musicians to waive two sections of their contract, Berton said. The first calls for two weeks’ notice before concert programming is changed. The second states that the music scores must be provided to the musicians at least two weeks in advance.

Despite that accommodation, symphony management has been unable to waive another section of the contract on behalf of the musicians, said another member of the orchestra committee who asked not to be named.

That provision addresses the makeup of the orchestra committee, which bargains with management. The musicians wanted to changed the committee’s makeup to include five members selected at-large from the orchestra, rather than representatives from each instrument section as required by the contract.

Musician complaints about management’s refusal to agree to the change are the latest in a long list. Berton said that the musicians, over the last two years, have filed several grievances against management for violations of the three-year contract. They include:

- Complaints that key management members, including Executive Director Richard Bass and development director Ken Overstreet, were hired without consultation of the orchestra committee.

The contract calls for representatives of the 89-member orchestra to interview candidates for certain managerial slots, violist Rebekah Campbell said. “We do not actually get a vote, but it’s the input” that counts, she said.

Campbell said committee members did not get the opportunity to interview Bass and Overstreet and were informed of their hiring through memos.

Merryman said he didn’t know why Overstreet and Bass were hired without consulting the orchestra committee. “It probably was because it was an oversight,” he said.

- In 1985, management sought to alter audition procedures unilaterally. The contract provides that members of an audition committee will listen to tapes sent in by musicians before issuing invitations to those found acceptable, said an orchestra member.

Management issued a letter, however, detailing new audition procedures that bypassed the musicians. Musicians were so incensed that their union hired an attorney to seek a court injunction against the new audition proceeding. He stopped short of going to court, however, when management rescinded the new rule.

“I don’t think that management perceived that the audition procedure changes represented a change that was inconsistent with the agreement,” Merryman explained.

The grievances, along with the latest disagreement over contract provisions, mean “there is certainly not a team feeling” between players and management, Campbell said. “As far as engaging the management team in conversation, that doesn’t happen. Management doesn’t come to explain . . . “

“Management does whatever it wants to unless you scream,” Berton said, adding that the only way to get management’s attention is by filing a formal grievance through the union.

Merryman said there are other procedures for resolving complaints.

Before the crash fund-raising program, in which the orchestra raised more than enough to wipe out a $2-million deficit, the symphony board of directors and management told the musicians they were going to cut the 45-week season by four weeks. Now management is still asking the musicians to agree to the shortened season, a request that rankles them.

Merryman said the union has not responded to the management request on the matter.

“The first thing we need to do is resolve the question at hand, and only the union can do that,” he said.