Story of the day today is this piece by Geoff in the Globe about changes facing longtime house-crew members at Symphony Hall, specifically a cutback on overtime and offers of early retirement. The workers don't sound happy about it, and neither do the orchestra's musicians. The daytime crew's nighttime OT during concerts could be neccessary in ways that aren't easily quantifiable - or maybe it's just a quaint tradition that has outlived its usefulness. Problem is, the only people we're hearing from directly are the workers and their supporters.
A while back I wrote that Boston arts organizations hurt themselves by acting like they're guarding the state secrets when it comes to information, whereas they ought to be as open as local sports teams. Well, here's a classic example. Geoff's story suggested that the BSO may have good reasons for what it's doing, beyond the obvious fiscal savings - but orchestra officials are damned if they're going to talk to the media about it. So we're left with another story about a big organization screwing some little guys, when it may not be that simple at all. You can bet if this were the Red Sox, say, getting rid of the scoreboard crew in the Green Monster and replacing them with another Jumbotron, they'd explain themselves quite publicly. Geoff tries to get at the truth by talking to a former BSO official, but the Kremlin silence from orchestra administration - the same thing you'd hear from the MFA, in a similar situation - tends to drown out those words.
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