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More Washington woes.


The management of the Washington Ballet has again locked horns with its dancers and their union, the American Guild of Musical Artists The 'American Guild of Musical Artists, AFL-CIO (AGMA) is the American labor union that represents 8,000 opera singers, ballet and other dancers, opera Directors, backstage production personnel at opera and dance companies, and figure skaters.

According to its website (www.
, over collective bargaining collective bargaining, in labor relations, procedure whereby an employer or employers agree to discuss the conditions of work by bargaining with representatives of the employees, usually a labor union.  issues. The impasse resulted in the cancellation of the company's entire Nutcracker run, the February and March programs at the Kennedy Center, and a week's booking in March at New York's Joyce Theater. The loss of Nutcracker revenue will amount to over $1 million, according to Jason Palmquist, the ballet's executive director.

Problems began when the dancers, who had made new contract proposals in August, met with management to bargain in late October. "Everything [that management said] sent a clear message that they wanted no involvement with the union," said AGMA AGMA American Gear Manufacturers Association
AGMA American Guild of Musical Artists
AGMA Association of Greater Manchester Authorities (UK)
AGMA Alliance for Gray Market and Counterfeit Abatement
 counsel Deborah Allton. "It was very frustrating for the dancers, because nothing was changing." Concerned about unsafe working conditions, the dancers and the union proposed an interim agreement on Dec. 12 to address crucial issues until a full contract could be approved. Palmquist called the proposal "the nuclear option," declared that the dancers were striking, and canceled the remainder of the Nutcracker performances. "They were circumventing the collective bargaining process and saying, 'We need an agreement now,'" said Palmquist.

The dancers maintain that they were always available to talk and were locked out. "In our opinion, the interim agreement was an intervention, because it was clear the negotiations were going to take forever," said Allton. "Their position was to draw a line in the sand, back off, and then make a drastic move. They'd rather shoot themselves in the foot than talk to us." When the dancers showed up for rehearsal on Dec 20, they were turned away by artistic director Septime Webre.

The contract proposals were not related to salary--the dancers had already been granted an increase last summer. Instead, they focused on working conditions, a guaranteed number of contracted dancers, health insurance, and a restriction on the use of students in productions. According to Allton, the company injury rate ran from 20-25 percent, due to unregulated rehearsal schedules, spillover spill·o·ver  
n.
1. The act or an instance of spilling over.

2. An amount or quantity spilled over.

3. A side effect arising from or as if from an unpredicted source:
 rehearsals, inadequate breaks, and management's disregard for free days. "Their current contracts state they can be fired immediately for any reason or no reason," said Allton.

The stipulation to limit the use of unsalaried performers from the Washington School of Ballet in Serenade and other works was unacceptable to the board. "We want no restrictions on the use of students--we feel that is part of our institution's DNA DNA: see nucleic acid.
DNA
 or deoxyribonucleic acid

One of two types of nucleic acid (the other is RNA); a complex organic compound found in all living cells and many viruses. It is the chemical substance of genes.
 that grew out of a 61-year-old tradition," said Palmquist.

In response to the cancellations, ACMA ACMA Australian Communications and Media Authority
ACMA American Composites Manufacturers Association
ACMA Academy of Country Music Awards
ACMA American College of Mortgage Attorneys
ACMA Associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
 has filed an unfair labor practice Conduct prohibited by federal law regulating relations between employers, employees, and labor organizations.

Before 1935 U.S. labor unions received little protection from the law.
 charge with the National Labor Relations Board National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), independent agency of the U.S. government created under the National Labor Relations Act of 1935 (Wagner Act), and amended by the acts of 1947 (Taft-Hartley Labor Act) and 1959 (Landrum-Griffin Act), which affirmed labor's right . In January, Kennedy Center President Michael Kasier offered to mediate contract negotiations. Palmquist rejected the offer, saying, "We're just not there yet."
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No portion of this article can be reproduced without the express written permission from the copyright holder.
Copyright 2006, Gale Group. All rights reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.

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Title Annotation:DANCE MATTERS; labor issues
Author:Carman, Joseph
Publication:Dance Magazine
Geographic Code:1U9WA
Date:Mar 1, 2006
Words:455
Previous Article:The right to dance.(DANCE MATTERS)(International Conference on Dance and Human Rights)
Next Article:Orlando Ballet.(Bruce Marks is interim artistic director )(Brief Article)
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