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Musicians'
Association of Hawai'i Local 677,
American Federation of Musicians
Michael J. Largarticha, President
B.K. "Benny" Villaverde, Vice President
Marsha Schweitzer, Secretary-Treasurer
http://www.honolulusymphonymusicians.org/www.livemusicbiz.com/local677.htm
MEDIA ADVISORY CONTACT:
SCOTT FOSTER
fosters005@hawaii.rr.com
(808) 637-4262
SYMPHONY
MUSICIANS VOTE TO ACCEPT PAY CUTS
Action
Assures Symphony Survival, For Now
Michael Largarticha,
President of the Hawai`i Musician's Union Local 677 said:
"Once
again, the musicians that I proudly represent have stepped up to the plate to
help this organization survive. While these cuts will make the lives of our
members and their families dramatically more difficult during the next two
years, we expect that this sacrifice now, will help assure the long-term
survival of this relevant 103-year old institution, the Honolulu Symphony
Orchestra.
“We
encourage the current Board and Management to indeed begin to mount the
long-needed effort to grow the symphony endowment and to develop the requisite
community, government, and corporate support to the point that we will never
again be forced into such dire circumstances."
More specifically, the
musicians have agreed to roughly a 20% pay-cut in the third and fourth years of
the current five year contract, along with a reduction in weeks (from 34 to 30)
and pension benefits being reduced by 25%. The fifth year (2006-2007) will be
revisited at the end of the 2005-2006 season with a commitment from management
that no reduction in wages, weeks and pension will be sought. The musicians have accepted these cuts in
part to protect the orchestra size at its current level of 63 full-time and 20
part-time musicians.
"A symphony orchestra
can not become smaller than ours and still be able to present the quality
product we give to our community day in and day out," said musician
representative Scott Janusch. "The musicians of the Honolulu Symphony are
united in their expectation that their continued sacrifices will not go
unnoticed. It is time for board and management to help stabilize and grow this
important community asset once and for all by increasing the endowment,
improving fundraising, and increasing the audience. By ratifying this
agreement, we have done our share to see that this becomes a reality."
The musicians have agreed
in years past to help support this organization. A wage freeze was instituted
in 2001-2002 season to help management get its financial house in order when
current Symphony President Steve Bloom was hired. That sacrifice by the
musicians evolved into the current contract which set modest increases in wage,
weeks and pension levels for the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 seasons.
Additionally, management
agreed not to seek reductions in wages, weeks, or pension for the 2004-05 through
2006-07 seasons.
-- END --
The Musicians' Association
of Hawaii Local 677 AFM was formed in 1923 and has about 700 members. While
mainly composed of professional musicians, anyone with an interest in music may
join. It is a statewide organization, and a part of the American Federation of
Musicians (www.afm.org)
of the