Labor

Union woes at Rounder Records

by Michelle Chihara

Today at the Boston Music Awards, local music fans will get a taste of something scandalous. No, nothing as spicy as Jennifer Lopez's "dress" at the Grammys. How about a crack in the veneer of one of Boston's and the music industry's most esteemed indie labels? Employees and union representatives from Rounder Records will be outside the Orpheum before the show with placards and fliers, protesting recent events at Rounder.

For a label that has built its reputation on "roots music" -- folk, bluegrass, and world music, as well as field recordings documenting Americana such as, um, union songs -- a union protest is bad news. Rounder Records is supposed to be one of the good guys. For 30 years it has built a reputation as an indie label of integrity. Rounder has made a name for itself primarily by recording a huge stable of hard-working artists who sell a few records, instead of a few mainstream artists who sell a ton of records. It does have a tiny handful of surprise hotshot money-makers such as George Thorogood and Alison Krauss. But the tagline is still "Rounder -- The roots of real music."

Roots or no, on April 3, Rounder fired 23-year employee Glenn Jones. Jones also happened to be the chief union steward for Rounder's 70-odd-person shop. After a couple of warnings from management for showing up to work late, having made two typos in a 330-page catalogue, and abusing the company's e-mail system, Jones was fired. But it's the last charge that's caused all the fuss. Jones helped draft a letter of concern, written with the support of a number of Rounder employees via e-mail, that was leaked to management before it was complete. The letter expressed frustration over what Jones and others at Rounder believe was blatant and unacceptable nepotism. Former major-label exec Paul Foley, who came to Rounder from UMG/Polygram 18 months ago, recently hired his girlfriend as VP of sales and marketing over other qualified long-time employees.

Foley, who fired Jones, says the company was "justified" in its actions, but wouldn't comment on details of the case.

Jill Havens, the representative for Service Employees International Union Local 295, says that in her decade of union work she has "never seen anybody fired from a unionized place on such ridiculous charges before." She adds she's confident that Jones can win back his job in an arbitration process, but is saddened about the strife at the company. In its flier, the union states that "Jones's arbitration process could take as long as a year, giving Foley and his cronies plenty of time to try to further weaken the union's position, to weed out the `bad eggs' and to bully anyone who, like Jones, dares to speak out in protest."

Sources inside and close to the company say that the atmosphere there has, indeed, changed and speculate that Rounder might be trying to bust its union. (It's one of the only record companies in the country that is unionized.) Whether or not that's the case, Rounder is certainly changing. A number of long-time employees, who will not give their names for fear of reprisal from the company, say morale has plummeted. More important, they say, Rounder's commitment and dedication to the music is in danger of being snuffed out by a more corporate credo.

Is Rounder Records losing its soul? Stay tuned.