In Thursday’s (9/30) Australian (Melbourne), Michaela Boland writes, “ASO musicians plan to use the opening night of their Schumann Festival on Saturday to escalate their campaign for a wage rise. At what was intended to be a celebration of some of the most romantic compositions of the 19th century, musicians will now vent their displeasure with management. The 70-strong ensemble will hand pamphlets to the audience and replace their usual white dinner shirts with T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan ‘Great Cities Have Great Orchestras’. ASO chairman Tim O’Loughlin said management was hamstrung. … Mr. O’Loughlin said the ASO received the lowest federal funding of all the symphony orchestras. The Sydney Symphony received $12.8 million in state and federal funding in the 2009 financial year, while the ASO received $7.3m. Management had the same salary goal as the musicians but needed a longer timeframe, he said. … The ASO was profitable last year so management increased salaries, Mr. O’Loughlin said. But players had rejected an offer of a 1.5 per cent pay increase over six months. ‘That is all the company can pay at the moment,’ he said.”
Posted October 1, 2010
