“The show won’t go on—at least not tonight,” writes Chelsea Bannach in Saturday’s (11/3) Spokesman Review (Spokane, Washington). “Musicians in the Spokane Symphony Orchestra are going on strike amid an ongoing contract dispute. The union representing the musicians announced Friday they will strike beginning at 5 p.m. today. As a result, tonight’s SuperPops performance was canceled. … ‘It is with regret that I must announce that after an additional day and a half of intensive bargaining where the symphony made significant compromises that they felt would bring the sides to an agreement, the musicians have halted the negotiations and called for a strike,’ Peter Moye, symphony board president, said in a statement. …The musicians have continued playing since the contract between the Spokane Symphony Society and Musicians Local 105 of the American Federation of Musicians expired Aug. 30. Negotiations had been ongoing since March. The symphony imposed a contract on the musicians in October that included cuts of more than 13 percent, reducing pay to about $15,130, according to the union. The union offered to take nearly 7 percent in cuts. ‘We reached a point where it was clear that they weren’t willing to make substantial movement on the key issues, so we felt we had no other choice,’ said timpanist and orchestra negotiator Adam Wallstein. … The musicians’ contract was last negotiated in 2006.”
Posted November 5, 2012
