Philadelphia players: Board blew $10 million on bankruptcy

[Chimpanella]

The musicians in Philadelphia are out of contract. If they can’t
get a new deal soon, the orchestra will be back where it was
five years ago – shut down and bankrupt. The atmosphere is
souring.

Read what the musicians have to say:

It has been more than five years since the Board of the
Philadelphia Orchestra voted to file for bankruptcy, becoming
the first major American orchestra to do so. At the time, the
Orchestra had a $140 million endowment, owned the Academy of
Music, and had no debts, according to an NPR article from April
18, 2011.

Although the filing in April, 2011 was opposed by the musicians,
the public was told that it was a necessary step, and that when
the Orchestra emerged from bankruptcy, things would be much
better.

When the court approved the bankruptcy, the Association made
wholesale changes to our pension plan. The Plan was frozen and
its administration was transferred to the Pension Benefit
Guarantee Corporation, a U. S. government entity. Some musicians
may receive lower pensions than they would have earned under the
frozen Plan. The retirement benefits which were substituted for
the Plan do not guarantee the benefit level specified in the
Plan.

In addition, the orchestra musicians, who had voluntarily taken
a wage freeze the year before, and who had donated a significant
amount of money to the Association, saw their salaries reduced
by more than 14 percent. The size of the orchestra was also
reduced, from 106 full-time positions to 95.

The Association, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Peter
Dobrin, spent “almost $10 million in professional fees and
expenses” on the bankruptcy, and paid settlements of $1.75
million to the American Federation of Musicians Pension Plan,
and $1.25 million to the Philly Pops in the process.

More than five years later, Musicians hoped that the Association
would view the bankruptcy as a temporary means to regroup and
ultimately restore the kind of budget that is necessary to fund
a major symphony orchestra, rather than as a way to downgrade
the musicians’ contract permanently. More than five years later,
we are still waiting….

The regressive contracts under which we have worked since the
bankruptcy have saved the Association millions of dollars. We
have patiently endured cuts to our salary, pension, and health
care. It is time to move forward and restore us to our proper
place in the pantheon of orchestras.

http://slippedisc.com/2016/09/philadelphia-players-board-blew-10-
million-on-bankruptcy/