In Sunday’s (9/26) Detroit Free Press, Mark Stryker reports, “The Detroit Symphony Orchestra musicians said Saturday they would go on strike Oct. 4, a move that threatens the start of the season and throws the financially beleaguered institution into more turmoil. … The union has also filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. Oct. 4 is the first day of rehearsals for the new season. … Management has proposed reducing base pay for veterans about 30%, from $104,650 to $73,200 in three years. The players offered a 22% initial cut to $82,000 with increases to $96,600 in year three, 8% less than they make now. After a failed negotiating session Friday conducted with federal, state and local mediators present, management leaders declared an impasse and began to implement the terms of its last contract offer. That move forced the players into calling a strike, said cellist Haden McKay, spokesman for the musicians. DSO president Anne Parsons said she was disappointed by the players’ decision. The musicians cast their decision to strike as a battle for the artistic soul of the institution; management defends its position as rooted in the financial realities of metro Detroit in 2010.”
Photo by Marcin Szczepanski/Detroit Free Press
Posted September 27, 2010
