DPEAFLCIO

Nuking the filibuster

Mlawrence — Wed, 15 May 2013 16:44:16 +0000

In requiring the U.S. Senate to confirm presidential appointments, the Constitution aims to ensure a second level of scrutiny of the qualifications of government officials. But Senate Republicans have hijacked the confirmation process, not only to thwart individual nominees but to undermine laws they don’t agree with. If they continue in their obstructionism, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) should revisit the possibility of doing away with the filibuster for nominations. Read more …

Los Angeles Times Editorial Board

An Orchestra in the Throes of a Lockout

Mlawrence — Tue, 14 May 2013 14:56:31 +0000

When the Finnish conductor Osmo Vanska took over as music director of the Minnesota Orchestra in 2003, he told the players that he wanted it to be “the best orchestra in this country in four or five years,” he recounted in a 2006 interview. Read more …

James R. Oestreich

The New York Times

Seattle Symphony reaches tentative agreement with musicians

Mlawrence — Tue, 07 May 2013 18:45:21 +0000

The Seattle Symphony Orchestra has reached a tentative contract agreement with the musicians who play for the Symphony and the Seattle Opera. Read more …

Valerie Bauman

Puget Sound Business Journal

Musicians Union Pickets Marvel for Outsourcing Scoring Overseas

Mlawrence — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:11:43 +0000

Continuing an effort that began last June, members of American Federation of Musicians Local 47 picketed Disney’s Marvel Entertainment Tuesday morning, demanding that the studio stop outsourcing its musical score work to Europe. The picket lines are informational, and the union is not on strike against the company. Read more …

Jonathan Handel

The Hollywood Reporter

Leading Man

Mlawrence — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 15:13:29 +0000

NICK WYMAN ’72 has done something very rare: made a living as “an entertainer, a mere mummer,” primarily in live theater, for 40 years. As president of the Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), celebrating its centennial this year, Wyman wants to make the same “gift of a career in this frustrating, exhilarating business” more possible for its nearly 50,000 members: actors and stage managers from Broadway to the smallest local theaters. “My ambition,” he says, “is to figure out how to expand opportunities for them.” Read more …

Nell Porter Brown

Harvard Magazine

Immigration Reform May Make Your Job Search Much Tougher

Mlawrence — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:53:13 +0000

If you’re a recent college graduate, a doctoral candidate, or a highly-skilled professional who has been in the job market the past few years, you know it’s rough out there. But if the immigration overhaul proposed in the Senate this morning becomes law, it’s likely to get a lot rougher. Read more …

Elizabeth Dwoskin

Bloomberg Businessweek

‘Fashion Police’ writers go on strike

Mlawrence — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:46:23 +0000

Writers for “Fashion Police” have walked off the job.

Writers on the E! Network cable show hosted by comedian Joan Rivers have gone on strike following a dispute over back wages. Read more …

Richard Verrier

Los Angeles Times

San Francisco Symphony says labor deal approved

Mlawrence — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:08:44 +0000

SAN FRANCISCO – Musicians with the San Francisco Symphony have ratified and the symphony’s Board of Governors has approved a 26-month collective bargaining agreement, symphony officials said. Read more …

Associated Press

Tentative Settlement Reached in Labor Dispute at St. Paul Chamber Orchestra

Mlawrence — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 16:13:34 +0000

The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra’s musicians and management have tentatively settled one of the stickiest labor disputes of the musical world this season, a conflict that has caused the cancellation of concerts since October. Read more …

Daniel J. Wakin

The New York Times

SAG-AFTRA and advertisers reach deal on new commercials contract

Mlawrence — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:53:59 +0000

After seven weeks of negotiations, SAG-AFTRA and a group representing advertisers said they reached a deal on new contracts covering actors and other performers who work in television and radio commercials. But neither group wanted to broadcast the details of the deal. Read more …

Richard Verrier

Los Angeles Times