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PRE-COLLEGE MUSIC FACULTY AT MSM ANNOUNCE STRIKE FOR FAIR CONTRACT
Guest Commentary
Volume 125, No. 2February, 2025
This is a guest commentary provided by the ARTS-MSM union.
After months of working without a contract, the Precollege Division faculty of Manhattan School of Music have launched a new phase of their campaign, a one-week strike that kicks off on Saturday, Feb. 1 from 8:30am to 6pm in front of the Manhattan School of Music at 130 Claremont Avenue.
“Local 802 supports these hard-working teachers,” said Local 802 President Bob Suttmann in a statement. Suttmann added, “Many Local 802 members teach in this program, contributing their invaluable experience as performing artists to the education of young musicians. We know that the future of our profession lies in the development of new talent, and that pedagogical excellence is the key to nurturing tomorrow’s musicians and audiences for musical performances.”
Local 802 is asking all of its members who teach at the precollege division to honor the picket line and show up on Feb. 1 (SIGN UP HERE). Many other unions have publicly expressed their support, including Professional Staff Congress-CUNY (PSC-SUNY), United University Professions (UUP), and the American Guild of Musical Artists. In AGMA’s statement of support, they highlight that “the Precollege Division faculty’s fight for fair wages, sustainable working conditions, and respect is a generational battle that impacts not just them, but the arts community as a whole… Cultivating new talent begins with supporting the educators who make it all possible.” The NYSUT Board of Directors have also taken a unanimous vote in support of MSM Precollege Faculty’s fight for a fair contract, aligning their 600,000+ members across the state with the struggle. Members of supportive unions have recently joined faculty members on Saturdays in front of the school building, distributing flyers and encouraging the administration to agree to a fair contract that respects teachers and protects students. In recent weeks another prominent visitor, Scabby the Rat, has been an unmistakable visual reminder of the MSM administration’s poor treatment of its faculty.
Faculty are represented by ARTS-MSM, a local of New York State United Teachers. They are seeking wage increases to bring pay rates more in line with industry standards after years of lagging behind, with many teachers making barely half of what peer institutions offer. Outrage among faculty has boiled over as the school’s public-facing financials reveal an easy ability to afford the proposed increases, high profit margins, and impressive compensation packages for senior administrators. As a result the union voted overwhelmingly on Jan. 8 to authorize a strike if necessary — the first strike authorization in the school’s history of over 100 years. The jaw-dropping 98 percent result in favor of strike authorization is a testament to how fed up faculty are with the conditions of their employment at MSM and how strongly they reject the proposals of ongoing substandard wages and harmful increases to class sizes that the administration continues to stubbornly insist on at the bargaining table.
The private music conservatory’s Saturday program provides world-class musical training to gifted students ages 5 to 18. Parents of enrolled students are demanding to know where their tuition dollars are going in this high-priced program, since so little is being spent on the people who educate their children.
Read more from The Columbia Spectator, MSN, Operawire, and The Violin Channel, and check out statements of support from fellow unions here.
You can also take action by signing an online petition here. or by joining ARTS-MSM faculty and supporters on the picket line on Saturdays in front of Manhattan School of Music from 8AM-6PM until a fair contract is won. Additionally, ARTS-MSM has requested that musicians in the NYC area sign this No Scab Pledge, agreeing to refuse to accept work as a replacement for striking MSM Precollege Faculty and to agree to not cross the picket line.
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:
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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