On this Labor Day, we have an untenable situation. The board of the Minnesota Orchestra Association (MOA) has locked out the musicians of the Minnesota Orchestra for just about a year now. Several musicians have left, and the group is in real danger of disappearing for good.*
Make no mistake – this was intentional. The board, composed of crony-capitalist charlatans and Ayn Rand acolytes, set out to do this. They saw a thriving, healthy non-profit organization that respected its employees and realized that the mere existence of such a thing was a threat to their Capitalism Über Alles, enrich-your-friends-and-strip-the-rest-for-parts, why-should-there-even-be-a-minimum-wage mindset. So they did what they always do; they set out to destroy it.
Whatever problems unions may have, and I am not so blind as not to realize that there are problems, I would rather be run by a union boss than by the CEO class (a group still upset that they can’t get the ultimate in cheap labor – slavery – because of that pesky 13th Amendment) any day of the week. We are not cogs. We are not simply another working expense. We are human beings, and you will give us the respect and dignity we deserve.
Or we will take it from you.
There’s always a Bastille that needs storming somewhere.
WF
*Oh, maybe not for good, as I’m sure they’ll take the Louisville Orchestra approach and try to hire high school kids.
For other views on the wholesale and wanton destruction of the Minnesota Orchestra:
Wes Flinn Music 