“The state’s largest arts organization, Utah Symphony | Utah Opera, and the 85 musicians of the Utah Symphony have ratified a new three-year contract,” writes Catherine Reese Newton in Wednesday’s (5/20) Salt Lake Tribune. “The deal includes an average 3.5 percent increase in base salary in each of the next three seasons for the musicians…. Senior vice president and chief operating officer David Green said musicians and management approached negotiations differently than in the past…. Rather than exchanging proposals and counter-proposals … representatives on each side spent more than a year researching industry standards and exploring options; then, beginning in February, both teams discussed each issue in the contract together, guided by federal mediator Kevin Hawkins. ‘It was very intensive but very collaborative,’ ” said violinist David Porter, who headed the musician negotiating committee. “The new contract, ratified more than three months before the old one expires, takes effect Sept. 1 and runs through Aug. 31, 2018…. There’s now a policy for paternity as well as maternity leave [and] greater flexibility for chamber-music performances.” USUO President and CEO Melia Tourangeau said, “We were able to have productive discussions and build a level of trust I’ve never before experienced during contract talks.”
Posted May 21, 2015
