Posted on: Thursday, October 16, 2003

Symphony talks bring no major progress

Advertiser Staff

Musicians with the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra met Tuesday night to get a briefing on symphony management's proposals for clearing its $1 million debt, but no significant progress has been made in negotiations, according to a spokesperson for Musicians Association of Hawai'i Local 677.

Scott Foster, a public relations specialist retained by the union, said the musicians' bargaining team presented management's options for cutting costs — across-the-board pay cuts or the elimination of five or six positions through attrition — to members at a 2 1/2-hour meeting late Tuesday.

The union's bylaws require a 24-hour waiting period between an official notification of proposals and a vote by the membership. The union, therefore, could vote on the proposal as early as 12:01 a.m. today, but Foster said no meeting to vote on management's proposal has been scheduled.

The musicians are in the second year of a five-year contract. The discussions are taking place according to existing provisions of that contract.

Symphony management has said that any changes agreed to by the two sides would take effect during the 2004-05 season and would remain in force for the remainder of the contract.