Letter: Still no settlement between Honolulu Symphony Society and musicians

The following letter on behalf of Jonathan Parrish of the Honolulu Symphony Musicians was sent to various media outlets today.

Misinformation about the status of the Honolulu Symphony was published in the Business Briefs of today’s Honolulu Star-Advertiser. The brief was initially published in Bloomberg News, and unfortunately, the same information was published locally without confirmation of the facts. This correction is being distributed to media so that the inaccurate information is not perpetuated.

The news brief published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser erroneously states the Honolulu Symphony Society negotiated a settlement of an unfair labor practices complaint with the union representing musicians. In fact, there has been no settlement between the Society and the musicians. The musicians’ union notified the National Labor Relations Board that it is withdrawing an unfair labor practice charge against the Society, specifically to allow the Society to file its reorganization plan and move the organization forward. That charge was filed in response to the Honolulu Symphony Society’s July announcement that it had accepted the musicians’ resignations, despite the fact that the musicians had not resigned.

The news brief erroneously states the Honolulu Symphony Society filed for an extension of the exclusivity period with a hearing set in U.S. bankruptcy court on Saturday, December 18, 2010.  This is not accurate. The Society’s exclusivity for filing a reorganization plan expired in April 2010. The Society’s deadline for submitting its reorganization plan was October 15, 2010, but the Society filed for an extension of the deadline. The hearing to approve the extension is set for Monday, December 13, 2010.

The news brief erroneously states the musicians have administrative claims against the Honolulu Symphony Society. Administrative claims would cover payment for work performed for the Society since it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2009. However, since there have been no concerts and the musicians have not performed for the Society since the bankruptcy filing, the musicians have not filed any administrative claims. Moreover, the deadline for submitting such claims was October 1, 2010.

Jonathan Parrish,
Honolulu Symphony musician