The pension. It came up during the 1991 and 2012 negotiations, but those resolutions hinged more on salary and changes to health benefits. Why is the pension the 2019 strike's deal breaker? It's about "sustainability" and the future financial health of the organization, according to CSOA President Jeff Alexander and Board Chair Helen Zell. Yet converting the defined-benefit plan to a defined-contribution setup would cost the organization more in the short run. Under the new defined-contribution plan, CSOA would contribute the equivalent of 8 percent of the musicians’ base salary annually, at a cost of at least $1.4 million a year. That's in addition to its current pension-fund obligation, $35 million over eight years. For an arts organization, CSO is not in bad financial shape. It's $900,000 short of a budget break-even, and has posted record ticket sales for the past several years. The issue is preserving its $300 million endowment. The board already draws down 5 percent of the endowment fund's value to support operations, and taking more to support the pension would jeopardize operations. "That's a big part of the purpose (of changing the pension benefit)," Alexander says. CSOA staff, including top executives like Alexander, were converted to a defined-contribution pension plan in 2006.

Helen Zell. As board chair and head of CSOA's executive committee, Zell plays a key role in deciding what should be negotiated. She is an accomplished pianist with experience at arts organizations and is said to be friends with many CSO musicians. (CSO declined to make her available for an interview.) Unlike Zell, former board chairs were able to settle strikes fairly quickly. The board chair during the 2012 strike was Bill Osborn, former Northern Trust chair and CEO. That strike was settled in two days. Richard Thomas, former chair and CEO at First National Bank of Chicago, was chair of the board during the 1991 strike, which was settled in 15 days. "The only thing I can think of is that (current management) has a philosophical problem with the defined-benefit plan," says one longtime donor and subscriber who asked not to be named.

The PR battle. The musicians have played eight free concerts around the city, from Apostolic Church of God in Woodlawn to the hipster music venue Hideout in Bucktown. Politicians (though not Gov. J.B. Pritzker or Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who have pension headaches of their own) have visited the picket line, and Riccardo Muti, Zell music director at CSO, has voiced his support. Out-of-town orchestras have sent letters of support and have donated about $70,000 to a musicians' relief fund. Management's outreach has included two invitation-only meetings for subscribers and donors, held April 11 at the Palmer House Hilton. Attendees describe the meetings as "highly scripted," with audience members submitting questions in writing and no opportunity for open comment. Alexander and Stacie Frank, CSOA's chief financial officer, answered the questions. The 90-minute meetings were designed to field the most questions possible and to keep the tone "non-emotional," Alexander says. "I'm sure some people were frustrated because they wanted to get up to the mic and let me have it, or let Helen have it," he says. Meetings were limited to donors and subscribers because they "are the most involved in the organization and who've supported it the most," he says.

The collateral damage. In addition to the hundred-plus musicians, the strike has affected about 10 union stage technicians. Symphony Center's restaurant, Tesori, suspended operations April 3 because of the strike. "The real damage will be the working relationship with (Orchestra) Hall, the staff and executive committee," says Steve Lester, CSO double bassist and chair of the musicians' negotiating committee. "A strike is not a trivial thing."