the hidden costs

There have been a lot of stories in the news lately about the new concessionary contracts at orchestras across the US.  They’ve been arrived at as orchestras have been desperately trying to weather the virtually unprecedented recession in the wake of the meltdown of the credit markets.  There’s a hidden set of costs that you almost never hear about – cuts to the numbers, pay, and benefits of the staff members of these same orchestras.  The staff members don’t have a union to represent their interests, for better or worse, and their jobs and pay are in a more precarious state than those of the musicians, for the most part.  In many cases, their benefits package loosely matches what the musicians get, but there isn’t any hard and fast rule about this – usually it’s done as a courtesy to the staff.  In some situations, the musicians get a better insurance package, free parking, and other perks that the staff can only dream of.  They’re all working very hard on our behalf, and we’re all in this together, I wish that my musician colleagues would remember that the “other side” are human beings with families, too.