“Fort Worth Symphony management chose not to implement pay cuts on Monday for its musicians,” said the musicians’ union on Wednesday, writes Andrea Ahles in Wednesday’s (1/27) Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, TX). “ ‘Musicians will be meeting to decide about moving the negotiations forward later in the week,’ [American Federation of Musicians Local 72-147] union secretary/treasurer Stewart Williams said. ‘We will have no further comment until after the meeting.’ Fort Worth Symphony president Amy Adkins declined to comment…. Talks between the two sides began in June, about a month before the musicians’ contract expired. The union has asked for pay raises in a proposed four-year contract, while management has proposed an 8 percent pay cut, largely through the reduction of paid time off, as the orchestra has operated with deficits for several years. The orchestra recently canceled its planned six-city tour of Spain, and the symphony projects a deficit of $650,000 for the current season. Last week, musicians voted to authorize a strike and also rejected what management had called its final offer. A news release issued by the FWSO on Friday said the final offer would be implemented on Monday.”
Posted January 28, 2016
