Did Jay Schaffner interfere with the RCMH negotiations?
No. Jay did nothing that affected these negotiations. The day the strike began, Jay was in all-day AFM Sound Recording negotiations. He informed AFM President Tom Lee and AFM attorneys who were present about the strike. Later in Executive Board meetings he argued that signing an apology letter was less damaging than losing the Radio City orchestra. Did you talk with management during the strike? Absolutely not! At no time did I talk with anyone from management. Whom did you talk with? On the night the strike began, several entertainment union officers approached me on the picket line. They expressed concern about the strike’s outcome and did not believe musicians had been fully informed about union and management positions. Jim Claffey, the Local 1 officer Lennon had been speaking with, said he thought the only way to save the orchestra was to sign the apology letter. I told him he might well be right. The suggestion that this conversation had some devastating impact on the outcome at
