In Thursday’s (10/18) St. Paul Pioneer Press (Minnesota), Kathy Berdan writes, “St. Paul Chamber Orchestra management delivered a ‘voting offer’ to its musicians Wednesday, Oct. 17, saying that if the union members do not accept the offer by late Sunday, management will cancel concerts through Nov. 4 and lock out the musicians. The musicians quickly shot down the proposal. ‘A lockout is the last thing we want, but, with so much at stake, we cannot make an irresponsible decision,’ said Carole Mason-Smith, chair of the musicians’ negotiations committee, in a news release. … If a lockout happens, both major orchestras in the Twin Cities will be locked out for the first time. Musicians at the Minnesota Orchestra were locked out Oct. 1 after the two sides failed to reach an agreement. SPCO management said Wednesday morning that the orchestra could no longer continue to ‘play and talk’ under the current contract. ‘Over the last four years, we’ve eliminated $1.5 million in annual expenses from our budget, and yet our deficit last year was nearly $1 million,’ SPCO President Dobby West said in a prepared statement. … Under management’s most recent proposal, current SPCO musicians would be guaranteed annual minimum compensation of $62,500, which is 15 percent less than their minimum annual salary last year.”
Posted October 18, 2012
