Local 802 President Bill Moriarity sent the following letter to the New York Times on June 28, in response to an article about the New York City Ballet by Anthony Tommasini, entitled “No Longer Just Another Gig,” which had appeared in the paper that morning. To date, the Times has not seen fit to print it.

To The Editor:

Mr. Tommasini makes the point that Local 802 and the orchestra committee attempted to make consistently during negotiations – i.e., that what was needed at the NYCB was a competent musical director. The contractual attendance requirements – prior to the dispute – were no different from the other Lincoln Center orchestras; what was lacking was leadership.

It also needs to be remarked that, while it is true that some musicians who worked rehearsals did not work performances, it was also the case that musicians who rehearsed were many times faced with a different conductor at performances. The artistic chaos had, in fact, reached the point where musicians took off to perform less lucrative but more aesthetically rewarding work elsewhere.

–William Moriarity, President, Local 802