Posted by Joe Baker on October 21, 2000 at 09:16:59:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Florida Philharmonic Orchestra Strike posted by Jay Bertolet on October 21, 2000 at 08:19:48:
Jay,
I love you man, but words mean things. If you want to say they expect long hours say how many. If you want to say they treat you with disrespect, say how. But 'slavery' is forced labor, without the freedom to leave. I didn't take any particular exception to your use of the word at first, just taking it as a bit of hyperbole, but when someone complained and you defended your use of the word -- without explaining WHY the word applies -- I think you hurt your case. Also, when you state that injuries are an unusual problem, it would help us to understand if you could tell me what management has done to put musicians at risk. Are they making you parachute in? Unload the trucks? And while I understand that 15 halls per year is a bit many for an orchestra, there are plenty of professional musicians who are in a different venue every couple of days, and who travel 100,000 miles or more per year.
I am like a great many who have philosophical problems with unions, and because we don't automatically support the union we need to hear specifics before we side with the union. I want to support you, but you'll need to tell me how your job situation differs from millions of other people's. Convince me!!