“The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra is back at work—for now,” writes Jay Harvey in Wednesday’s (10/17) Indianapolis Star. “The music returned to Hilbert Circle Theatre Tuesday after musicians and their employer reached agreement late Monday on two new contracts; one a ‘bridge’ agreement that will carry the organization through Feb 3, 2013, and one that starts the following day, providing that the Indianapolis Symphony Society reaches a lofty fundraising goal. The second contract, if enacted, will expire on Sept. 3, 2017. It contains the major financial terms that the Indianapolis Symphony Society, which runs the ISO, presented in its last offer, whose Oct. 6 deadline passed without the musicians’ acceptance. The difference is the withdrawal of a contract-termination option that the Society had insisted upon, which musicians saw it as an attempt to avoid fulfilling the full term of the contract. The clause would have allowed either side, with one year’s warning, to void the five-year pact after three years. The 74 musicians now covered for the next five years finished the last contract with a minimum of $78,000 in annual salary. They are taking an immediate pay cut that sets the minimum at $53,000. That will climb gradually over the contract’s five years, finishing at $70,000. Negotiations on other issues such as pension benefits and personal leave continue.”
Posted October 17, 2012
