“The management and musicians of the San Francisco Symphony ratified a new labor agreement on Monday, less than two years after a strike that led to the cancellation of several local concerts and a high-profile East Coast tour,” writes Joshua Kosman in Monday’s (2/2) San Francisco Chronicle (subscription required). “Terms of the new pact, which runs through Nov. 24, 2018, were agreed on just a week before the previous agreement was set to expire. It provides for a new weekly base minimum salary of $2,892, which will increase to $3,200 in the final year of the contract, and increased contributions to the musicians’ pension fund. There are also new provisions covering seniority and leave, as well as a plan to try to reduce the costs of medical coverage. Violist David Gaudry, the chairman of the five-member musicians negotiating committee, said he thought the 2013 strike had helped ease the way toward a quicker resolution this time around.… ‘This was a good outcome for everyone,’ [Gaudry said]…. ‘This new agreement clearly represents a shared long-term vision for the orchestra among all of our key constituents,’ Executive Director Brent Assink said in a statement.”
Posted February 3, 2015
Pictured: San Francisco Symphony musicians performing at SoundBox on December 12, 2014
