So....what the hell is up with the WAC?

Folding the tents....

Things have been relatively quiet on the Atlanta front, although there has been some news, and--as always--it's not good.  Management "negotiators" walked away from the table just as it seemed that the impasse was near its conclusion.  The federal mediators (in disgust, I am sure) have left town, and the players of the Atlanta Symphony are left twisting in the wind.

From all that outside observers can surmise, the Player's Association has caved on their last (and many deem most significant) sticking point.  The complement of players--once at 95--is now a mere 77, although the 2012 contract guarantees 88.  WAC and the ASO management have simply decided not to fill the vacancies that have occurred since the lockout, be it due to attrition or players simply looking elsewhere for work.  A number of other orchestras, including Dallas and Chicago, have benefitted.

The future Atlanta Symphony?

But now the players have given up on their insistence that they field a full orchestra.  Simply put, one cannot perform a Mahler symphony with 77 players.  In certain works, 95 is a stretch and often requires additional substitute personnel.  But given in they have.  And the reaction from Virginia Hepner and her management cronies at the WAC?  Silence....that same deafening silence that has accompanied this debacle since the beginning.

Here's what the players have given up:

• Any salary guarantees whatsoever.  Their modest proposal would have increased levels (which were slashed 15.4% in 2012) something a bit over five percent (total!) through 2018.  As it sits now, the orchestra will spend millions less in 2018 than it did in 2012.
• Health care:  the players accepted a higher deductible plan, again saving management a figure attuned to $500,000 annually.
• Work rules:  management will put forth its "best effort" to raise the orchestra complement to 88 by the close of the 2018 season.  Of course, anyone close to this lockout has to doubt the veracity coming out of the mouths of anyone having to do with the WAC or ASO management.

So.....since the players have folded the tents and given in on every negotiating point, what the hell is management waiting for?  These players have been without paychecks since early September and without healthcare (unless out of their own pockets) since October 1.  Players who won auditions since the last season ended have yet to play a note.

Ms. Hepner and friends:  the world is waiting for the sunrise and for the return of the Atlanta Symphony.  What's taking so long?