Detroit's Symphony Goes With Big Labor

While the nation is focused on the fight between Wisconsin's governor and the public sector unions, a strike involving Detroit's Symphony is hitting a critical stage.

While the nation is focused on the fight between Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and the public sector unions, the negotiations in the longest ongoing labor strike in Michigan seem to be reaching a critical stage.  Major politicians like Senator Carl Levin and former Governor Jennifer Granholm have become involved.  Both the union and management are reported to have made concessions, and the gap between their positions seems to be narrowing.  The latest offer by management seems likely to be submitted to the union membership for a vote.

News of a strike in Michigan would not seem to be news at all.  This is where the UAW made history with its sit-down strikes in Flint and elsewhere.   The support of the unions is usually critical for anyone who wants to become mayor of Detroit or obtain the Democratic Party’s nomination for governor or any statewide office.  The annual Labor Day parade in Detroit still draws major politicians.

What is so incredibly odd is that the strike is by musicians of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, which is reportedly a world-class symphony.  My ears do not qualify me to offer an opinion on the quality of the symphony.  But, the concept of world class musicians joining a union seems manifestly absurd.

It made sense for coal miners like my grandfather and great uncle to join the United Mine Workers.  After all, the work they did required little skill and was extremely dangerous.  The miners themselves were almost interchangeable, were paid almost nothing and had little recourse unless they joined together to bargain collectively.

Aren’t musicians, especially world class musicians, artists?  Aren’t their talents and their work unique?  Surely their skills are not so similar to those of other musicians that they need to restrict competition through a union?

Once upon a time, unions were seen as representing the interests of unskilled workers trying to earn a decent enough wage to support their families and give their children a shot at a better future.   In this case, at least, maybe the more things change, the more they really do change.

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