A contract dispute this past spring between the Chicago Symphony Orchestra (CSO) and its musicians led to a disruptive seven-week strike, the longest in the venerable orchestra’s 128-year history. The unlikely intervention of Chicago’s mayor just before he left office managed to draw the dispute to a mutually satisfactory finale.
Negotiations in a minor key
Over 11 months of negotiations, the musicians, represented by the Chicago Federation of Musicians, were unable to negotiate a mutually agreeable new contract with management, in the form of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association (CSOA).
There were two main points of contention. First, due to rising costs, and in keeping with broader employment trends, the CSOA wanted to change the performers’ pension from an employer-funded defined benefit plan to a direct contribution plan akin to a 401k. The musicians flatly refused, maintaining that defined benefit plans are still standard for major orchestras. Second, the musicians demanded a significant raise to bring the orchestra’s annual base salary, then around $160,000, in line with that of other major U.S. orchestras, but the CSOA would agree to only modest salary increases.
On March 10, the musicians declared a strike and began picketing in front of Symphony Center on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. While conductors typically stay neutral in such labor disputes, CSO music director Riccardo Muti, arguably the world’s leading conductor, visited the picket line and gave the strikers his full-throated support: “I am here with the musicians,” he declared. He urged the symphony’s board to “listen more carefully” to the players and give them the “tranquility and serenity” they need to do their work.
Disrupting a familiar tune
Seven weeks of “picket lines, accusations, counter-accusations, dueling press conferences, and other forms of angst” followed, writes Howard Reich in the Chicago Tribune. With visiting artists refusing to cross the picket line, Orchestra Hall stayed dark, and the CSOA’s revenue losses mounted. Despite assistance from federal mediators, both sides remained rooted in their entrenched positions with no compromise or creative solution in sight.
Meanwhile, Muti was due to kick off his spring season with the CSO on May 2, increasing the urgency of the situation. Rahm Emanuel, Chicago’s unpopular mayor, was going to leave office on May 20. Perhaps spying a last-ditch opportunity to boost his legacy, the mayor—who once famously said, “Never let a serious crisis go to waste”—offered to help facilitate a resolution. Emanuel had never mediated a labor dispute as mayor, but both the musicians and the CSOA were game.
“There’s a desire and a will to try and find a resolution,” Emanuel told the Chicago Sun-Times, noting that the two sides had a shared interest in saving the rest of the CSO’s season.
Call and response
The morning of April 26, negotiators from both sides gathered at Chicago’s City Hall for what turned out to be an eight-hour mediation led by Emanuel with help from his chief legal counsel and staff. The mayor addressed the negotiators without notes and was well versed on the details of the dispute and on contract disputes faced by other orchestras, CSOA president Jeff Alexander told Crain’s Chicago Business. Emanuel, a former ballet dancer and fan of the arts, then sent the opposing parties to different rooms and engaged in shuttle diplomacy, visiting each room with proposals and ideas.
According to Steve Lester, a CSO bassist who chairs the musicians’ negotiating committee, the mayor “set a mood of great respect for the institution, and especially for the musicians.” Through “a gradual process with a lot of give-and-take,” a deal took shape.
By the end of the day, the two sides had reached consensus on a five- year contract. The CSOA agreed to raise wages by 13.25% over five years, a substantial increase from its initial proposal, though short of the musicians’ demands. The musicians agreed to transition to a defined-contribution retirement plan beginning in mid-2020, with employer contributions valued at 7.5% of the base salary, plus additional payments for the first three years based on musicians’ age and years of service.
Undoubtedly breathing huge sighs of relief, both sides applauded the deal and the mayor’s intervention. On May 2, as scheduled, the CSO made a triumphant return to Orchestra Hall under Muti’s baton.
3 dispute-resolution notes:
- Make the most of time pressure. According to “ripeness theory,” negotiators won’t come to agreement until the time is ripe—often, when the costs of continued impasse appear unsustainable. When this time comes, look for creative ways to encourage parties to soften their demands.
- Shake things up. Negotiators who repeat the same words and actions in the same locale risk getting permanently stuck. For the CSO disputants, a change of venue and a new mediator seemed to help them move forward. When parties are stuck in a rut, a change of venue, new personnel, or a mediator may help them view their negotiation with fresh eyes.
- Try an influential mediator. Professional mediators are typically the best people to enlist when negotiators need a creative go-between. But in some situations, a high-profile leader from your industry or community—someone you can trust to be neutral, well prepared, and determined— may motivate parties to make needed concessions.