The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and its musicians, who are represented by the Musicians’ Association of Metropolitan Baltimore, AFM Local 40-543, announced today that they have reached a five-year agreement on a new contract that begins on September 7. The contract provides “foundational stability” and marks the first long-term agreement since a three-year contract expired in 2016 and follows a summer-long lockout of the musicians last year. “This long term agreement will allow us to continue to attract world class musicians and will give us the freedom to concentrate on what we do best,” said BSO Players’ Committee Chair Brian Prechtl, “making sublime music that nurtures and uplifts hearts, minds and spirit.” Union Secretary-Treasurer Mary Plaine added that “We’ve come a long way in the last year and a half,” and thank everyone who supported the musicians during the lockout, saying “You helped get us to where we are today.”
Details of the agreement are here. BSO players (left to right) Matt Barker, Andy Balio and Rene Shapiro perform at the press conference announcing the new five year contract. (Barbara Haddock Taylor / Baltimore Sun) Union City Radio: 7:15am daily
WPFW-FM 89.3 FM; click here to hear today's report March/Rally: Commitment: Get Your Knee Off Our Necks: Fri, August 28, 7:15am – 3:15pm Labor contingent gathers at United Unions building, 1750 New York Avenue NW, WDC; march heads out at 8:45a. Hosted by National Action Network and NAACP. Coalition to Repeal "Right to Work" (Canceled): Fri, August 28 We❤️Highland Post Office AND our voting rights! Sat, August 29, 9am – 10am Highland PO, 12975 Highland Rd, Highland, MD 20777 Metro Washington Council and Community Services Agency staff are teleworking; reach them at the contact numbers and email addresses here. Missed yesterday's Your Rights At Work radio show? Catch the podcast here; Labor joins the Commitment March (with WTU's Liz Davis and IUPAT's Brian Courtien); Unionbusting, vegan style. After at least 70 National Airport workers were exposed to COVID at an Alexandria church in early August, workers with no sick days have had to make the choice between going without pay or showing up to work at the airport sick, reports SEIU 32BJ. Fairfax County Board of Supervisors James Walkinshaw and community supporters protested yesterday outside of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, demanding paid sick leave. “This is a public health issue,” said two dozen Virginia delegates and senators in a letter to MWAA. “A paid sick leave requirement would protect workers, workers’ families, and passengers from COVID-19.” "Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. 1963 is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual." So said Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his famous “I Have A Dream” speech at the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. With jobs and freedom still just a dream for so many Americans, thousands will march again today, 57 years later, to carry on that struggle. The labor contingent is meeting at the United Unions building starting at 7:15a (see Calendar); at 8:45 they’ll march over to the Lincoln Memorial. Unions participating include AFGE, AFSCME, AFT and IUPAT. |