On July 1, musicians of the Distinguished Concerts International New York (DCINY) Orchestra filed with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for a union election after a strong majority of the musicians showed intent to unionize with Local 802. The DCINY election took place via mail-in ballot from July 29 to Aug. 15. On Friday, Aug. 16, votes were counted at the NLRB with results as follows: 113 “yes” votes to 14 “no” votes, 89 percent in favor of union representation! Below is a brief statement from the DCINY Orchestra Musicians Organizing Committee; a full report will follow in the next issue of Allegro. For the most up-to-date information on the DCINY contract campaign, check out @DCINYOrchestra on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

DCINY MUSICIANS OVERWHELMINGLY VOTE UNION YES

Over the past 11 years, DCINY has operated as a producer and presenter of music at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. For many of their choral concerts, DCINY assembles choirs of amateur singers from around the world who pay a fee for the unforgettable experience of performing in one of New York’s top venues. DCINY then hires an orchestra, soloists and conductors to give the choir members a concert of a lifetime. While we, the musicians of the DCINY Orchestra, enjoy the work, it often involves unreasonably long rehearsals with inadequate breaks; intense, physically demanding performance days; and an atmosphere of fear due to frequent retaliation for voicing concerns to management. We do not have a contract, do not receive benefits of any kind, and have no guarantee that we will be hired for future engagements. To address these and other issues, we have come together to unionize DCINY with the support of Local 802 and to negotiate a fair collective bargaining agreement that allows musicians to express our concerns without fear of retribution.