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From the May 2006 issue of The $100+ Club News #100
Democracy Alive in Musicians Local 802
by P.W. Sondor
Democracy seems to be alive at Musicians Local 802 in New York City, although a dissident group called Concerned Musicians of Local 802 wants more of it.
Over the last six months, President David Lennon has gotten himself into hot water, and it seems to be getting hotter. Lennon is up for re-election later this year, and a slate seems to be forming to oppose him. Whatever the outcome of that election, this situation shows that sensitive, controversial issues can be discussed openly at meetings, in the union media, and on an opposition website.
The problems developed last October when Lennon, according to reports, bypassed the union's member-based negotiating committee in bargaining with Radio City Music Hall (RCMH), much to the consternation of RCMH negotiators and others. When Recording Vice President Bill Dennison and Executive Board Member Jay Schaffner suggested he sign a letter of apology requested by RCMH management to advance the negotiations, Lennon allegedly refused and the talks broke down. Subsequently, the world famous Christmas show was performed to canned music and a less than satisfactory contract was agreed to.
Lennon then led a group of executive board members who filed charges in January against Dennison and Schaffner for their role in openly criticizing the RCMH negotiations and contract. The charges of undermining union negotiators were never made public, but they are discussed on the Concerned Musicians of Local 802 website. They were withdrawn later that month, apparently because of protests by the membership and because the process disrupted union business.
Part of this dispute was waged in 802's newspaper, Allegro. Following a huge membership meeting in February at which the Radio City Music Hall negotiations were the main topic of discussion, a letter from former 802 president John Glasel (1983-1992) appeared in Allegro criticizing Lennon's leadership. The membership meeting, attended by over 200 members, and the letters in Allegro were sure signs that democracy was working in 802, but was it working well enough?
In the March 2006 issue of Allegro, Lennon wrote a long response, called "Full Disclosure," to charges that arose in January that he was charging personal expenses to the union's American Express card, some of which he had not repaid. Included in the same issue were five pages containing a report by an outside independent attorney, Larry Cary of Cary Kane LLP, engaged by the executive board to investigate the charges.
According to Lennon's account, he used the union credit card because of "a personal credit problem" from his student days that made it impossible to get a card in his own name. He also claimed that he always repaid the union on a timely basis over the years except for recent months when he was "somewhat overwhelmed" by his responsibilities and did not repay his debt to the union in a timely manner. The Cary report recommended many changes in credit card procedures and a fine of one month's salary, $1,800, for Lennon.
Another letter critical of the current leadership from a former president, Bill Moriarity (1993-2003), appeared in the April 2006 issue of Allegro. In that letter, Moriarity questioned Lennon's account of his past history of credit card use. Remarkably, Allegro had now published two letters from former presidents critical of a president still in office. One would be hard put to find this sort of open dialogue in any other union newspaper under any other union president.
Nevertheless, Concerned Musicians of Local 802 wanted even more democracy. On their website, www.concernedmusicians.org, which is authored by Dennison, Schaffner, and executive board members Maura Giannini and Mary Landolfi, they expressed concern that "our union's publication, Allegro, offers fewer facts and more spin," and they criticized Lennon for not relying on an editorial board as former presidents did.
The dialogue is ongoing, the issues are out there, and union democracy is the major topic of discussion. No matter what candidate wins the election at the end of this year, the overall winner will be union democracy and the need to carry it on.
(Ed.- see also the MEMBERS Newsletter website, http://www.membersparty.com/)
(For background on reform movements in local 802 see AUD's Democratic Rights for Union Members, pp. 221-223, which discusses the formation of an insurgent group in the 1960s.)
For responses to this article, see: More on Musicians Local 802
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