Players - who could see a 20 percent cut in base pay and the loss of 10 positions - are taking the threat seriously. They would like any eventual deal to include a commitment that management will not seek bankruptcy protection, whose stigma they feel would both damage the orchestra's reputation and dampen fund-raising and ticket sales.
Some orchestra board members are advocating bankruptcy - despite the fact that the group has no debt and an endowment well north of $100 million - because they believe it would allow management to no longer fulfill its pension obligations, board members and others say.
From the perspective of a casual orchestra-goer, the management sucks. Obviously I can't have any deep insight into many important decisions that have been made over the past several years, but their marketing and other things which I can perceive are pretty poorly done. But, clearly, the workers must suffer. I know that pretty well-paid orchestra members are not on the top of the list for people to weep for, but they're still labor facing the same crap from management that everybody is.