In Friday’s (3/8) Sacramento Bee (California), Edward Ortiz writes, “A strike looms at the San Francisco Symphony, with its musicians authorizing the job action if an agreement cannot be reached on salary and benefit issues. The symphony’s roughly 105 musicians are in contract negotiations with orchestra management and a federal mediator. The musicians have been performing without a contract since an extension expired Feb. 15. The two sides are scheduled to meet again Tuesday. The strike, if it occurs, would force cancellation of the orchestra’s upcoming East Coast tour, which includes a performance at Carnegie Hall and the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. … At issue for the musicians are wage freezes demanded in the first year of the proposed contract by management, as well as health benefit and pension plan changes, said violist David Gaudry, chairman of the musicians’ negotiating committee. … In a written statement to The Bee, a symphony spokesman said it is working with the musicians’ union and a federal mediator to develop an accord that ‘does not compromise the future artistic quality or financial sustainability of the institution.’ San Francisco Symphony musicians earn an average compensation of over $165,000 annually, according to the statement.”
Posted March 8, 2013
