ABSTRACT
Broadway musicians, like workers in other industries, confront workplace issues and problems on a daily basis. Workers’ concerns are sometimes marginal, but more often than not, many concerns are quite serious, from the threat of unemployment to life-threatening injuries. As worker representatives, unions attempt to counter the negative aspects of the workplace through changes in the collective bargaining agreement, through the grievance procedure, or occasionally, through legal channels such as complaints to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) or the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Most of the time, unions react to problems that have already occurred or are imminent; unions tend not to have a precautionary or preventive approach and Local 802 is no exception. Local 802’s basic strategy to counter the negative aspects of the Broadway musicians’ jobs is not proactive; rather it is categorically reactive. Local 802 offi cials accept the status quo unless an imminent danger threatens a musician’s health or job. Nevertheless, the amount of time that passes before any rectifi cation is proposed and subsequently adopted is often protracted. To avoid these time-consuming reactive processes, Local 802 (as with other unions) could develop a strategic plan that seeks to address and ameliorate the problems and issues of the musicians before they are exacerbated.
