Metropolitan Opera Reaches Deal With Union Representing Chorus Amidst Ongoing Lockout

The Metropolitan Opera has announced that it has reached a deal with the union representing its chorus and other workers, The New York Times reports.

As BroadwayWorld previously reported in December, The Met locked out its stagehands amidst a labor dispute between the company and its union.

The Met offered to begin paying many employees up to $1,500 a week if their unions agree to long-term contracts that include a 30 percent cut in pay, but workers believed this to be unfair. This is when Peter Gelb, The Met's general manager, said that stage technicians and shop crew members represented by IATSE Local 1 would have their wages cut, and be unable to continue production of sets at Met facilities for the 2021 season.

Now, the American Guild of Musical Artists is the first of the three largest Met unions to reach such a deal after this ongoing labor dispute.

The terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed. The company said they will remain confidential until the union holds a vote to ratify the agreement on May 24.

Gelb says that he is grateful to the guild for "recognizing the extraordinary economic challenges the Met faces in the coming seasons."

The new contract will "ensure the Met becomes a more equitable and better workplace," according to Leonard Egert, the executive director of the guild. "We are pleased to arrive at a new deal during the most trying time in performing arts' history."

If approved, the agreement with the guild will take effect on Aug. 1. At this time. union members will continue to receive partial payments.

Read more on The New York Times.