A day before Labor Day, Local 802 announced that it had entered into a contract with the producers of “That Parenting Musical,” requiring the employment of live musicians in the show, rather than the use of recorded tracks as the employer had intended. The success of this negotiation was no small feat. It was the product of the unified effort by many.

Initially, after the termination of four musicians who were hired to perform the show, Local 802 imposed a Do Not Work Order against the production. However, a Do Not Work Order is only potent if musicians voluntarily comply with it. Much more was required to achieve this contract. Musicians and other performing artists stood together as one to demonstrate to this employer that it would not be permitted to engage in tactics intended to prevent use of live music.

In addition to the Do Not Work Order, three factors contributed to the success of this negotiation.

First, solidarity was displayed by the musicians who were originally hired for the show and were then abruptly terminated. They displayed an unwavering commitment to the negotiation of a fair contract and attended many evening meetings with Local 802 Principal Business Rep Theresa Couture while proposals were being formulated and exchanged.

Second, the musicians who were asked to record tracks that were intended to replace live musicians refused to do so. They voluntarily complied with the Do Not Work Order and prevented the creation of a recording for this show.

Finally, a lead actor in the show stood in unity with the musicians and made it clear that he would not perform to canned music.

The potency of these three factors are a testament to the strength of solidarity. Ultimately, because of the substantial leverage that was generated by the community, the employer yielded and agreed to come to terms with Local 802.

I became involved in this negotiation when the production’s counsel reached out to me in an attempt to convince Local 802 to lift its Do Not Work Order. I had had previous negotiations with this attorney, and he believed that our prior relationship would set a good foundation for this negotiation. However, his reliance on our previous relationship was misguided. The very first proposal that he made was that the production would be willing to hire Local 802 musicians to record tracks for use in the show and that they would be paid union rates for the recording. As soon as this proposal was conveyed, it was made clear to him in the strongest possible terms that Local 802 would rather close the show than use recorded tracks. The conversation ended very abruptly. A day later we received a new proposal that indicated that the terminated musicians would be reemployed, conditioned on the removal of the Do Not Work Order. The economics contained in the proposal were unacceptable and this proposal was also rejected. The Do Not Work Order remained in place. Ultimately, after several volleys of proposals were exchanged, the musicians who were initially hired for the show agreed to the terms proposed by the employer and they each received the right of first refusal to perform. The Do Not Work Order was lifted only after the agreement was placed in writing and signed by the producer. The agreement was then approved by the Local 802 Executive Board. As a result of these combined efforts, a fair agreement had finally been achieved.

Unfortunately, the actor who joined with the musicians in their display of unity was unable to continue on the production and some of the show’s original musicians turned down the offer of employment. Success came at a cost. There was a cost exacted on the producer as well. One can’t help wondering why the producer chose this route when it could have achieved a far better result dealing fairly with the union in the first place. If it had, it would have saved time, money, effort and retained the lead actor it had originally cast.

For those of you on Instagram, our post celebrating the union victory at “That Parenting Musical” was one our top social media posts in recent memory. You can see it here.