Chicago Symphony Orchestra Strike

View from the uppermost balcony

Orchestra Center, Chicago

Photo by Lisa Hirsch

Updates, 4/13/2019:

1. I forgot to link to ICSOM's press release supporting the musicians.

2. The CSO has called off concerts through April 23.

I'm late in catching up with the CSO strike, but here goes.

The core issue is the orchestra's retirement plan. At present, the musicians have what's called a defined benefit plan: you receive retirement benefits as a pension, a fixed amount annually based on years of service and perhaps your salary during your employment. I believe that pre-retirement  contributions to the plan are made by the musicians and the orchestra, but maybe don't quote me on this; it could depend on the contract, etc.

The orchestra wants to change this to a defined contribution plan, a 401(K) type plan in which contributions are made by both musicians and orchestra, but what you can draw on during retirement is a crap-shoot because you make decisions about how to invest these contributions, and there is no guaranteed payment. Worst case: you make bad decisions and you have little or nothing. The bad decisions can include not contributing enough (or at all) and making bad investment choices. You can also be the completely innocent victim of a terrible economy and lose a lot of money in a stock market crash, even if you made good investment decisions. An event like that the year before you intend to retire (or after you have retired) will affect your financial position for a long, long time.

This week, the CSO made what it calls its last, best, and final offer, which the musicians voted on and rejected last night. Here's management's statement:

Last night, the musicians of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra voted not to accept the CSOA’s last, best and final offer for a new contract and continue their strike. The CSOA shared details of that offer publicly, and we encourage you to read the news release.

We have proposed a long-term agreement that would allow the parties to repair their working relationship, bring stability to the organization, support the musicians in a transition to a new retirement benefit and grow the annual base salary by 12%, retaining a contract that remains at the top of our industry.

The Association now faces the need to review the CSO season schedule and cancel additional concerts as needed due to the musicians’ decision to continue to strike. Today, we regret to inform you that all CSOA-presented concerts and related events scheduled through Tuesday, April 23 are postponed or canceled. For details on affected concerts, please visit cso.org. We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.

Thank you for your continued support of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association, and we look forward to seeing you back at Symphony Center soon.

Sincerely,

Helen Zell Chair, Board of Trustees

Jeff Alexander President

By stability, they mean "we are limiting the orchestra's responsibility to the musicians," because defined-contribution plans shift so much retirement responsibility from institutions to individuals. 401(k) plans are pretty well understood to be useful to high-earning individuals who are savvy investors, that is, people who can afford to max out their contributions.

Me, I support the musicians. Most large US orchestras have defined-benefit (pension) plans; in the last decade, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh's musicians agreed to a two-tier system in which musicians already in the orchestras stayed in an existing pension plan, and newcomers get a 401(k). This can cost a huge amount over a player's lifetime and makes those orchestras less attractive than those with traditional pension plans. I understand that orchestra jobs are so rare that the impact on hiring may not be entirely predictable, but in the case of Philly and Pittsburgh, the musicians threw future musicians under the bus.

Now, I am something of an amateur in talking about these issues. You'll want to follow Drew McManus's reports and commentary at Adaptistration for the perspective of a real pro. This link goes to posts tagged Chicago Symphony Orchestra.