Lindsey Orcutt wrote:

>Why is it fair that a poor player be paid the same as a phenomenal
>player? Why should Billy Bob Joe get a pay raise for doing mediocre work
>when Frankie Sue gets the same pay raise for excellent, above-par work?
>Why is this fair? It just doesn't make any sense to me.

This is similar to the argument about merit pay, which the teachers' unions
have been deeply involved in for a long time.

I think I can appreciate the point you are making, but it seems to me that
the bitter disputes that would arise about who really is better than who
else, and whether, even if A is indeed better than B, she deserves to get
$X more per annum, would be even more numerous and ferocious than the
discrimination cases that labor law has to deal with now.

It seems to me that, where musical organizations are concerned, if some
members are playing in a mediocre way (not up to the standard of the
organization), the remedy would be to fire them.  Hopefully, the music
director and the players as a whole will develop sufficient esprit de
corps to inspire excellence from the entire body.

Jon Johanning // [log in to unmask]