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Amy Adams

Springfield, Oregon
Commenter for
32 weeks 2 days

Recent Comments

Posted on 05/07/13 at 12:06 pm in response to Sense of urgency being felt over Minnesota Orchestra plight; local bands to play Target Field

Mr. Schletzer, start by reading the statements made by the musicians since the onset of the lockout. Then, head toward Adaptistration, Song of the Lark, Slipped Disc, Sticks and Drones or Polyphonic for intelligent commentary about this disaster. Make yourself comfortable, you'll be there a while.
Then, armed with information about what the musicians actually want, and have given, and what has been taken away from them...then try coming back here and implying even for ONE SECOND that...

Posted on 05/07/13 at 04:45 pm in response to Sense of urgency being felt over Minnesota Orchestra plight; local bands to play Target Field

It's not a strike. It's a lockout. That's central to the whole dispute.
I have to ask...if you're someone who never attends the orchestra, and don't care about their status as "best" or "pretty good"...then why on earth are you here, with an enormous chip on your shoulder?

You are absolutely correct that their economic self-interest motivates the musicians. They would prefer to not negotiate both in the dark...and publicly. Management is the one who arranged things like this,...

Posted on 05/07/13 at 06:03 pm in response to Sense of urgency being felt over Minnesota Orchestra plight; local bands to play Target Field

Reportedly, when the musicians met with the board recently, the statements made to musicians by board members consisted in their entirety of "bottom-line" money issues. This is the difference between the two groups: the board cannot conceive of Reality without Money being underneath it all.
Similarly, hostile commenters on various media outlets accuse the musicians of greed, of all things! ...projecting their own natures onto the locked out musicians who want so very much to get back...

Posted on 05/08/13 at 11:26 am in response to Sense of urgency being felt over Minnesota Orchestra plight; local bands to play Target Field

If I see injustice, I cannot take a middle-of-the-road stance on it. It would be a second injustice to ignore it. Musician supporters need make no apologies for their passionate opinions.
Perhaps your late entry into following this dispute has you playing catch-up with discussions that have already been held in multiple forums. It grows tiresome, sometimes, explaining yet again a basic piece of information ("strike" vs. "lockout") to someone who then needs to vent his frustrations...ok...

Posted on 05/03/13 at 06:34 pm in response to Vänskä threatens to resign if Orchestra lockout lingers

You are indeed the very model of a philistine.
They've been locked out, without salary or medical coverage and denied the privilege of playing together under Osmo...and you think the thing to do is to post a boorish bit of sarcasm.
Please continue to throw your support behind the board...it suits, perfectly.

Posted on 04/26/13 at 11:38 am in response to The only path to settlement: Orchestra musicians, board members must negotiate

Ms. Carpenter and Mr. Pulles: the Board is in fact the party who is squandering resources. That you would accuse locked-out, unemployed musicians of squandering resources puts a label of "out-of-touch" directly on you. You firmly ignore the numerous draconian changes in the workplace rules, you firmly ignore all offers by musicians to play and talk, or enter binding arbitration (a generous offer that puts the musicians' interests at real risk)
I see nothing in your words that...

Posted on 04/26/13 at 02:04 pm in response to The only path to settlement: Orchestra musicians, board members must negotiate

I wish that would happen, too!
Since management, with the board's support, locked out the musicians...they have the keys to the room. There is enough money to play and talk...binding arbitration has been offered and rebuffed...
and this board ignores everything the musicians have presented. The orchestra world is aghast at what can happen through negligent handling of a treasured commodity.
Perhaps the musicians will find a way without them. I hope so.

Posted on 04/27/13 at 05:33 pm in response to The only path to settlement: Orchestra musicians, board members must negotiate

The proposed elimination of seniority pay for all musicians. In the words of industry expert Drew McManus: "To put it mildly, this is a profound proposal and, if implemented, it would be unprecedented in the field for an ensemble the size and stature of the Minnesota Orchestra."

This is just one example of management engaging in a perplexing and harmful action in negotiations...plenty of for-profit corporations engage in seniority or performance-based financial incentives. Why doesn't...

Posted on 05/10/13 at 01:16 pm in response to The only path to settlement: Orchestra musicians, board members must negotiate

There is a reason, when swearing in witnesses before giving testimony, that the oath is "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Time and time again, I see management and board make a statement that contains lots of the financial reality they are concerned with and little or no mention of the myriad changes to workplace conditions and artistic control they are also demanding the musicians give up. Focused as they are on money, that's all they can see in other people.

...

Posted on 04/16/13 at 12:19 pm in response to Dear Mr. Henson: Your lockout is the 'barrier to negotiations'

Jon Erik Kingstad, I don't know what media outlets you follow regularly, but I have seen miles of position statements and commentary by the musicians and their supporters. The musicians operate a website that outlines their case, enumerates grievances, asks valid questions, acknowledges the public and (unlike management) provides a forum for questions and input.
You're so right...the public has a stake in this dispute. I've read of a number of patrons given the brush-off (as in removed...