It’s nearly a year since our 2005 contract settlement at Radio City Music Hall. Musicians beginning work at Radio City in this season’s Christmas Spectacular lost a great deal. With Broadway negotiations set to begin early next year, we need to make sure we understand the mistakes made in those negotiations and that they are not repeated.

A Brief History

The 2005 negotiations were the third with Radio City under Cablevision ownership. Past talks were difficult, with many of the same management demands. In prior negotiations the strategy was to protect the 35-member orchestra’s work in the Christmas Spectacular, even if that meant compromising on other issues.

What were RCMH/Cablevision’s opening proposals in 2005?

Management sought to limit overtime for orchestra members and subs, reduce the orchestra size by attrition from 35 to 33 and reduce the guaranteed year-round Plan A health insurance coverage to six months of Plan A and six months of Plan B. Management proposals did not threaten the pool orchestra nor its basic protections.

What did RCMH/Cablevision get in the final settlement?

Overtime for regular players was cut. Overtime for subs was eliminated. Job security for pool orchestra members is gone, and with that guaranteed health benefits. At the end of five years the orchestra will be reduced from 35 to 25.

What went wrong?

In early October, management withdrew its overtime concessions and offered a two-year agreement with 1.5 % and 2 % wage increases. Instead of making a counter offer and seeking a deal, Local 802 President Davied Lennon and Counsel Leonard Leibowitz walked away from the bargaining table. Lennon began a public campaign against Cablevision for seeking to “cut musicians pay” and “rip off the public by putting on the show with taped music.”

What was RCMH/Cablevision’s response?

Cablevision owner James Dolan accused Lennon of lying about management’s proposal. He then offered to leave the existing contract unchanged and double his wage increase offer to 3% and 4 %. As part of the deal, however, Dolan demanded that Lennon sign a letter publicly admitting he had lied about management’s position.

Did President Lennon lie about RCMH/Cablevision’s contract offer?

Given their offer of a raise, meager as it was, and the absence of any proposal to eliminate the orchestra, it is impossible to reach any other conclusion. The other entertainment unions thought Lennon was “not being totally honest” with them about management’s position.

If he lied why not admit it and save the members’ jobs?

That’s what many other labor leaders thought. City and State labor leaders, along with our friends in elected office, offered to hold a press conference immediately after the letter was made public, at which they would announce their support for President Lennon and Local 802, applaud Lennon’s courage for putting the members' welfare first and denounce Dolan’s unconscionable demand for the letter.

Why did President Lennon lead the orchestra out on strike?

There is no explanation. It was a tragic mistake that members paid dearly for. The Christmas show is presented in elsewhere in the country with taped accompaniment. Without the support of the other unions working at Radio City, a strike by the orchestra would not stop the show.

Was there a plan to get the orchestra back to work?

No. The musicians were led out on strike with no plan to win and no understanding of what they were facing. The union looked weak and vulnerable. The media, the public and even our members didn’t know what to think or even what our issues were.

What is the responsibility of a union leader in this kind of situation?

The first responsibility is to protect the membership at all cost – including any attendant personal loss. The members come first – period. If President Lennon’s statements of management’s positions to our members or the public were inaccurate, he should have had the courage to admit it to protect the orchestra.

Three months after the Radio City settlement Recording Vice-President Bill Dennison and Executive Board member Jay Schaffner were charged with interfering in those negotiations. The charges against them were completely withdrawn, but rumors have continued. We have asked Bill Dennison to respond to some of this misinformation.

Did you interfere with the Radio City Music Hall negotiations?

No. My first involvement with the Radio City negotiations came on October 28, when President Lennon called and asked if I would help write an apology letter being demanded by Cablevision/RCMH owner James Dolan. I sent David my suggestions. Over the next few days he was in regular contact with James Claffey, president of Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), as they tried to get Dolan to accept the apology letter as written. My next involvement came on Wednesday, November 2, when I joined the picket line after the orchestra was already on strike.

Did Jay Schaffner interfere with the RCMH negotiations?

No. Jay did nothing that affected these negotiations. The day the strike began, Jay was in all-day AFM Sound Recording negotiations. He informed AFM President Tom Lee and AFM attorneys who were present about the strike. Later in Executive Board meetings he argued that signing an apology letter was less damaging than losing the Radio City orchestra.

Did you talk with management during the strike?

Absolutely not! At no time did I talk with anyone from management.

Whom did you talk with?

On the night the strike began, several entertainment union officers approached me on the picket line. They expressed concern about the strike’s outcome and did not believe musicians had been fully informed about union and management positions. Jim Claffey, the Local 1 officer Lennon had been speaking with, said he thought the only way to save the orchestra was to sign the apology letter. I told him he might well be right. The suggestion that this conversation had some devastating impact on the outcome at Radio City is absurd on its face.

Is talking with the IATSE Local 1 president the same as talking with management?

No. Characterizing a conversation with the president of an important Broadway union as consorting with management, as some have done, is a slander against me and also against one of the sister unions that helped Local 802 during the Broadway strike of 2003. It is completely irresponsible.

Did you go around the RCMH orchestra committee?

No. I invited committee members to my office the day after the strike began and told those present how worried I was about the replacement of the orchestra with tape. I expressed concern about the livelihoods of the pool musicians, their health insurance and the many substitute musicians who counted on Radio City for part of their income. I also said if the only way to get musicians back to work and protect their contract was to sign a letter saying I lied, I would do it. ,p>

Wouldn’t signing a letter saying we lied do great harm to the union?

Not nearly as much harm as this contract has done. The fallout could have been handled with the help offered by City and State labor leaders and friends in elected office. They were prepared to publicly applaud our courage for putting members’ interests first and denounce Dolan’s unconscionable demand.

What can we do going forward?

The most important thing is to learn from this experience and draw the right conclusions. We can begin now preparing for the next round of negotiations by repairing our relations with the other unions. We have to think carefully about how to achieve the leverage needed to regain some of the losses we sustained. I believe it can be done if we plan carefully and fight smart.