This is a guest commentary provided by the ARTS-MSM union

The faculty at Manhattan School of Music’s Precollege Division continue to work without a contract for the third consecutive month as the administration refuses to agree to the basic conditions that would deliver these hardworking musicians the wage increases required to address the exploding cost of living since the prior contract was enacted seven years ago. (Precollege faculty at the Manhattan School of Music are represented by ARTS-MSM, a local of New York State United Teachers. A significant number are also members of Local 802.)

Nevertheless, the administration has started to respond to the outpouring of support for the faculty by agreeing to increase wage minimums to levels they had previously derided as “unserious,” “laughable” and “never gonna happen.” While this progress is undoubtedly due to the organizing efforts of the union and support from our sister unions, ensembles and individuals across the field of music, there is still a long way to go before MSM precollege faculty enjoy pay rates within the ballpark of peer institutions like Mannes Prep and Juilliard MAP. Our weekly demonstrations in front of the school have continued unabated and are garnering support from precollege families and the broader MSM community. A recent town hall for precollege families solidified the solidarity between faculty and parents who know that their beloved teachers have their children’s best interests at heart.

More than 1,800 people have signed the online petition calling for the school to meet the moment and provide a fair contract to its faculty. Just in time for Thanksgiving, dozens and dozens of pages of signatures were delivered to President James Gandre’s office, following a raucous demonstration in front of the school at which a popular chant was “President Gandre, can you hear us!” (To which the answer was presumably YES, since we believe he lives rent-free in a two-story terraced penthouse floating above the school, reportedly as part of his generous pay package.) Accompanying the petition, current students and parents, MSM alumni and music lovers from across the globe have left comments outlining their shock at the low wages and demanding that the administration look after not only their faculty but also the long-term best interests of the precollege program by paying wages that will ensure the retention of the high-quality faculty for which the program is rightly celebrated.

Unfortunately, the administration continues to stubbornly insist on contract changes that would be harmful to students, like significant increases in class sizes and restrictions on mutually agreed upon remote instruction. Moreover, the administration persists in crying poverty by comparing the school’s endowment to Juilliard’s, while never claiming an inability to afford the increases sought by the union and remaining unwilling to open its books to the union. The devil is often in the details when it comes to MSM’s behavior in bargaining. Recent proposals made by the school would have offered a minimum wage increase that would only benefit three teachers (out of 150) in the current contract year. And a counterproposal component they described as a meaningful wage increase was actually an hourly raise of just 50 cents. More broadly, they continue to structure their proposals in a way that ensures that the fewest number of teachers would receive much-needed wage increases in the near term while most would not benefit from a new contract until its fourth or fifth year. ARTS-MSM will continue to demand that teachers need a meaningful raise now!

Thank you for your support!

In solidarity,

ARTS-MSM

Adam Kent, President

David Friend, Interim Co-Vice President

Adrienne Kim, Interim Co-Vice President

Elena Belli, Treasurer

Karen Rostron, Secretary

Please support MSM Precollege faculty:

• Sign the petition
• Follow the MSM union on Instagram
• Write an email to MSM President Gandre

PREVIOUS ARTICLES IN THIS SERIES:

Pre-college music faculty at the Manhattan School of Music are still fighting for a fair contract

Pre-college music faculty at the Manhattan School of Music are fighting for a fair contract