Arbitrator Finds That the New York City Ballet Does Not Have to Compensate Musicians For COVID-Related Cancellations

The New York City Ballet has been told that it does not have to pay its orchestra during the extended period of no performances due to COVID-19, despite the company agreeing to do so, Slipped Disc reports.

The NYCB had agreed on March 24, 2020, to guarantee twenty-four weeks of employment and compensation to the musicians during the 2020-21 season, but management then decision to not compensate its orchestra for this season.

Last week, Arbitrator Barry Peek issued an award upholding NYCB's refusal to pay its musicians for the 2020-21 season, prompting backlash from the union.

According to the union's statement, Arbitrator Peek "found that the twenty-four weeks of guaranteed employment, as set forth in the parties' collective bargaining agreement (CBA), was not a 'guarantee of compensation' at all, but merely a guarantee of 'performances.'" Therefore, with there being no performances, there was no obligation to pay the musicians.

"The notion that the severity of the pandemic was unforeseeable on March 24 2020 is absurd," said Local 802 President Adam Krauthamer. "NewYork City was on total lockdown and the ambulance sirens were wailing 24 hours a day. Yet NYCB now claims that it somehow did not know how bad the pandemic would be, so it wasn't required to honor the contract."

Read the union's full statement at Slipped Disc.