Question: How come the union isn’t available to help me when I work at [X] Opera? How can we unionize an opera company so that we can start getting some benefits?
Alan S. Gordon, national executive director of AGMA, replies:
AGMA now represents singers and production staff at 48 opera houses and concert venues. Most of these collective bargaining agreements have existed for decades and are renegotiated every three, four, or five years. Although the total number of AGMA signatories increases slowly each year, AGMA does not “organize” employees at new opera companies in the traditional sense. We are often asked, however, if we would be interested in representing singers who work at non-AGMA companies. Our answer is: “It depends.”
It depends upon the level of interest among the singers, their willingness to band together and stay together, and the extent to which an opera company will resist unionization.
Singers at non-AGMA companies often want to be represented by a union because they are being treated unfairly or discriminatorily, or because they want to have regulated terms and conditions of employment, or they want health insurance and pension benefits.
Almost always, non-AGMA companies vigorously resist unionization for one, common reason: They want to be in control of their singers and want to unilaterally determine how they will treat them, how much they will pay them, and what benefits, if any, they will provide.
The federal government closely regulates union representation of employees. A government agency, the National Labor Relations Board, sponsors union elections and can order an employer to recognize and bargain with the union the employees choose. But the legal process through which AGMA can force an opera company to respect the wishes of its employees in this regard is cumbersome, time consuming, and expensive.
This is how it works: If a group of singers asks AGMA to represent them, we meet with the group. At that initial meeting, we explain the process in detail, we explain the risks and the potential rewards, and we tell the group that if they are truly interested in helping themselves, we are available to help them. The NLRB will hold an election if 33 percent of the eligible voters sign “authorization cards” asking for an election. Our experience has taught us, however, that unless at least 85-90 percent of all of the singers at any particular non-union company are willing to fight for unionization, the effort will not ultimately be successful.
If the majority of singers are genuinely interested, we have them sign cards and then petition for an election. The NLRB schedules and conducts a secret election and, if a majority of eligible voters vote “yes” for AGMA representation, then AGMA is certified as the collective bargaining agent and the company is instructed to bargain. If the company agrees, we proceed to negotiate towards a first contract. If the company refuses, the NLRB and AGMA jointly go to federal court, which can order bargaining.
If things go smoothly, the process takes only a few months. If things don’t, the process can take years. AGMA and its lawyers are willing to undertake this battle on behalf of interested singers, so long as they are genuinely interested and understand the length of the process, and the limitations about what can and what can’t realistically be negotiated.
Singers who are interested in unionization also have to understand the risks. They can be fired, or simply not hired again. Federal law does offer employees some protection from discharge by anti-union employers, but singers are particularly vulnerable because they are talent employees, most of whom work freelance or part-time.
If a group of singers at any non-AGMA opera company really wants to collectively band together and stand up together for their professional and financial rights, we are prepared to devote our strength and our resources to help them. Interested singers can contact me confidentially, at AGMANY@aol.com.
