So what, that’s what professional Orchestras do, right? Only it wasn’t the management of the VSO that masterminded this campaign; it was the musicians themselves. As preparation for an upcoming collective bargaining endeavor, the musicians conceived, developed, and executed a very successful PR campaign designed to serve their immediate needs, complement the overall VSO PR strategy and establish a permanent, public voice for the musicians.

Here’s the musician’s website.

See this Polyphonic.org article for an inside look at this initiative.

Despite record profits approaching $100 million per year for this 10-week
show, management is seeking to slash the tenured orchestra musicians’
salaries by eliminating or severely limiting the overtime these musicians
earn working as many as 6 shows a day and often for 7 days a week.

Following a breakdown in negotiations with the new owners of Radio City
Music Hall on Thursday, October 6, 2005, Local 802 [New York City] was
informed that the management had hired a local contractor (the regular house
contractor is a member of Local 802.) This contractor will call music
schools and/or union or non-union musicians in New York, New Jersey or
anywhere in the US, Canada or Europe, to serve as replacement or “scab”
musicians.

Additionally, there is a strong rumor that the contractor will try to reach
out to the members of the Louisiana Philharmonic and offer this work as a
“charitable gesture”.

Members are asked to refuse this work and to notify Local 802 of any
attempts to hire within their jurisdiction.

Terms of the new contract include:

• 1 year term
• 10% pay cut
• Temporarily reduce from 76 to 69 players
• Cut season from 36 to 32 weeks
• Several musician seats on the Board
• Musician representation on management committees

There are articles on The Star-Ledger and Playbill Arts.