For Immediate Release
April 12, 2024                                                                  

Southwest Florida Symphony Musicians have ratified a two-year agreement.

 Musicians have agreed to a 1% increase in wages per year and slight increases in the travel stipend, but some issues remain.

(Ft. Myers, FL) Musicians of the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra have agreed to a two-year contract as of March 23, 2024.

 The musicians had been working without a ratified contract since 2019. While the management had claimed to be at an impasse, the musicians continued to play to ensure the survival of the orchestra.

 The musicians of SWFSO are paid on a per-service basis: a service is a single rehearsal or concert. The agreement provides for an increase of $1.50 per-service from $142 for the remainder of this season. Prior to this, musicians’ pay has essentially remained stagnant for the last five years.  Next season, the musicians’ per-service rate increases to $145, which still makes the Symphony one of the lowest paid professional orchestras in the state.  The current per-service rate for the Sarasota Orchestra is $162, Naples Philharmonic is $168, The Florida Orchestra: $161, Orlando Philharmonic: $154.

 The agreement improves some of the working conditions that were imposed on the musicians in 2020, although the musicians still aspire to see a more complete restoration of their previous agreement.

 “While we are pleased to be finally working under an agreement for the first time in 4 years, we are still concerned about the future of the Symphony,” said Jeanie Phelan, Assistant Principal Viola, and chair of the Orchestra Committee. “Our wages are still far lower than what other orchestras are paying, and we still don’t feel that the organization is being transparent about its finances. More concerning is that we have yet to see a vision for the future. We hope to work collaboratively with the management and Board of Directors to solve these outstanding issues.”

 Principal Tuba Tom Kracmer and owner of Cadence Music said, “We believe great things are possible for the orchestra. We look forward to continuing to work with our new Music Director to grow the orchestra artistically, expand our concert season, and develop more robust educational and community engagement programs that will ensure the future of the Southwest Florida Symphony for generations to come.”

For Immediate Release
November 2, 2023                                       

Southwest Florida Symphony Musicians in Fort Myers authorize a strike for the first time in its history.

The Musicians have no Agreement and have been working under unilaterally imposed terms since 2020. The SWFSO presents fewer than half the concerts it did 10 years ago while the Board retained an out-of-town law firm for over $100,000 to date. Musicians say this spending is not in the best interest of the organization nor the intent of our ticket buyers or donors.

(Ft. Myers, FL) Musicians of the Southwest Florida Symphony Orchestra have overwhelmingly authorized a strike for the first time in the orchestra’s 63-year history, over management’s unilaterally imposed cuts in wages, cuts in rehearsals and concerts, job security, working conditions, and management’s hostile negotiating tactics.

The musicians have been working without a ratified contract since 2019. Management imposed terms in 2020 and because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the musicians continued to play to ensure the survival of the orchestra.

Negotiations resumed for a new agreement in June of 2023, but little progress has been made. The management insists on silencing musician voices in the institution, freezing their wages, and eliminating work opportunities and job security. In the words of management’s out-of-town attorney, too much has been ceded to the musicians in the past and they no longer want to make commitments. Management refuses to share its audited financial statements and other information typically shared in the industry out of a sense of cooperation and basic transparency.

“The SWFSO has been a valuable Ft. Myers asset for 63 years,” said Jeanie Phelan, chair of the Musicians’ bargaining committee. “We once enjoyed performing 30+ concerts a season, including many with the symphony chorus, and participating in the youth orchestra education program.  Under the current regime, we now play 50% fewer symphonic concerts, and the Youth Orchestra Program has been cut by 75%. Yet, there has been no transparency or accountability for management’s drastic actions.  We find their refusal to share any audited financial evidence to justify these cuts extremely troubling.”

Principal Tuba and Orchestra Committee member Tom Kracmer, owner of Cadence Music, said, “I care deeply about this orchestra. I want to make sure it is around for future generations.”

For more information, visit the Musicians’ website at www.swfsomusicians.org.

Contact: Adam De Sorgo (312) 723-5201
adesorgo@afm.org

Southwest Florida Symphony musicians OK possible strike over pay, union contract

Charles Runnells
Fort Myers News-Press
Published November 3, 2023

Southwest Florida Symphony's musicians have approved a potential union strike, citing issues that include a chopped concert schedule, frozen wages and four years of negotiations without a union contract.

The strike was actually authorized in September, but the symphony musicians' union didn't announce the vote until Thursday night.

If a strike is called, it would be the first in the professional orchestra's 63-year history in Fort Myers.

Courtney Filner, the symphony's principal viola player, said she hopes it doesn't come to that, though.

"Our union colleagues have authorized the orchestra committee – those of us that are doing the negotiations with management − to call a strike should we feel it is necessary," said Filner, the vice chair of the union's bargaining committee. "Our sincere hope is that we don't have to do that. Nobody actually wants to strike. But negotiations have broken down to a point where we felt like we needed to take some sort of action."

Symphony CEO Amy Ginsburg, however, said she's "bewildered" by the union vote and that symphony management has been bargaining in good faith. They have a bargaining session scheduled for Tuesday, in fact.

Union members said orchestra management has canceled two recent bargaining sessions, but Ginsburg said that's not true. She said union members walked out of several sessions.

"We're always committed to returning to the bargaining table," Ginsburg said. "I'm still very confused about what they want. We did give them a proposal back in August, and we have yet to see a counter proposal. I'm willing to talk to them whenever."

Symphony union votes to authorize strike, waits to announce the news

The musicians' union voted unanimously Sept. 30 to authorize the potential strike, said American Federation of Musicians negotiator Adam De Sorgo. They'd hoped the vote would lead to more progress on negotiations.

"The musicians waited to reveal the authorization in hopes that more productive discussions of our issues during subsequent negotiations would take place," De Sorgo said. "But they did not."

A strike could affect the professional symphony's upcoming concerts at Barbara B. Mann Hall Performing Arts Hall and elsewhere. That includes the Saturday, Nov. 4, Masterworks 1 concert and December's annual Holiday Pops show.

"The musicians, at least for today, are continuing to rehearse for Saturday's concert," De Sorgo said Friday.

Southwest Florida Symphony's musicians are part of American Federation of Musicians Florida Gulf Coast Local 427-721. The union includes musicians in Fort Myers, Naples, Tampa Bay and Sarasota

The issues behind the potential symphony union strike

In a news release late Thursday, the union blamed the potential strike on many ongoing issues, including stalled contract negotiations and canceled bargaining sessions, management’s "hostile negotiating tactics," a dwindling youth-orchestra program and a reduced concert and rehearsal schedule.

That shorter schedule means fewer work opportunities and less job security for the musicians, who are paid per concert and rehearsal.

“The SWFSO has been a valuable Ft. Myers asset for 63 years,” said Jeanie Phelan, chair of the musicians' bargaining committee, in the news release. “We once enjoyed performing 30+ concerts a season, including many with the symphony chorus, and participating in the youth orchestra education program. 

"Under the current regime, we now play 50% fewer symphonic concerts, and the Youth Orchestra Program has been cut by 75%. Yet, there has been no transparency or accountability for management’s drastic actions."

Ginsburg said the reduction of concerts didn't happen until the pandemic, when most Southwest Florida arts organizations reduced their number of events. Then Hurricane Ian happened last year, shutting down several of their usual concert venues and rehearsal spaces, including BIG ARTS on Sanibel Island and The Heights Center in Fort Myers (where the youth orchestra had just started rehearsing).

"The venues that we used to be able to access were no longer accessible," Ginsburg said. "We haven’t built back yet."

Attendance was also down "somewhat" last season, she said, since many snowbirds stayed home because of Ian's impact in Southwest Florida.

"We're here to serve the community," Ginsburg said. "We deliver the amount of orchestral music that the community has an appetite for. To program for the sake of programming doesn’t make sense."

Four years without a contract

Symphony musicians have been working without a ratified contract since 2019, according to the news release. In October 2020, their usual number of concerts and rehearsals was cut during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Management imposed terms in 2020," the news release said, "and because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the musicians continued to play to ensure the survival of the orchestra."

However, those terms have continued, Filner said, and the orchestra's musicians have had enough. Plus the musicians no longer have representation on the board of trustees.

Another issue is the symphony's elimination of financial support for musicians' travel expenses, the union says. About 60-70 percent of the musicians travel to Fort Myers from Tampa, Miami, Jacksonville and other parts of Florida, Filner said.

"It makes it difficult for those who are coming in from out of town to choose to play with this group when other orchestras offer more," said Filner, who lives in Naples. "Not only more in compensation, but more services."

Ginsburg declined to discuss travel expenses or the lack of musicians on the board, saying she wanted to run that by the board before going on the record.

It's not just about money, Filner said. The lack of board representation is a big issue, for example.

"Of course we want more money," she said, "but that's not the top of the list by any stretch of the imagination. We feel like our voices have been silenced.

"In a typical orchestra or performing-arts organization, the musicians would have input on a lot of things, and it seems as though that's being taken away."

Ginsburg said she hopes the contract issue gets resolved soon, and the orchestra is moving ahead with its planned concerts Saturday and beyond.

"The orchestra has shown up to rehearse," she said. "They are rehearsing as we speak. So as far as we’re concerned, the concert is happening (Saturday)."

For more information about the union's concerns and its full statement, visit swfsomusicians.org.

— Charles Runnells is an arts and entertainment reporter for The News-Press and the Naples Daily News. To reach him, call 239-335-0368 (for tickets to shows, call the venue) or email him atcrunnells@gannett.com. Follow or message him on social media:Facebook (facebook.com/charles.runnells.7), X (formerly Twitter) (@charlesrunnells), Threads (@crunnells1) and Instagram (@crunnells1).

FORT MYERS | Southwest Florida Symphony could strike due to pay, musicians say

Fox 4's Anvar Ruziev reports:

By: Anvar Ruziev

Posted at 9:54 PM, Nov 02, 2023

and last updated 10:24 PM, Nov 02, 2023

FORT MYERS, Fla. — Musicians with the Southwest Florida Symphony could strike for the first time in history over pay.

The union unanimously agreed to allow the musicians to strike, if necessary.

Tom Kracmer, a symphony musician, says the reason for the strike comes back to money.

"That's the main concern we have, is that we're in a high growth area, one of the highest growing areas in the country, but yet our budget is shrinking constantly," Kracmer, owner of Cadence Music, said.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employers have lost 7.4 million labor hours to strikes in 2023 so far, the largest loss in 23 years.

The musicians of the symphony tell Fox 4 the amount of concerts have been cut in half over the last 10 years, and some say this strike is a last resort.

"Proceeding to a strike, if we have to go to that," said Dione Chandler, an oboe player with the symphony. "We hope we don't. We really want to contribute, be a part of the community, we want to work more."

Fox 4 reached out to the CEO of Southwest Florida Symphony and provided the following statement:
The Southwest Florida Symphony is both surprised and confused by the musicians’ decisions to take a strike vote. The parties have both been actively participating in negotiations. We provided a full contract proposal to the the musicians back in early August and are currently awaiting a response from them. We are committed to bargaining in good faith and are hopeful that the parties can reach agreement on a long-term contract soon. Toward that goal, we have made ourselves available for the purpose of bargaining tomorrow and on Tuesday and are awaiting a response from the musicians.

Amy J. Ginsburg, CEO

The orchestra is a per service orchestra, meaning the musicians get paid for every rehearsal and performance. They say in the past, they used to get three to four rehearsals.

Now, they say that number is one to two.

"We're coming to work, and we go away with losing money, which doesn't make any sense," Chandler said.

The musicians say they are looking forward to having a fair and reasonable contract.