Metropolitan Opera Has Little Hope of Reaching Agreement Before Lockout

Following a two month hiatus, the Metropolitan Opera singers union continued contract talks on Monday, with little hope of reaching an agreement before the threatened lockout.

The contratcs for 15 of 16 unions will expire on Thursday. As BWW reported, General Manager, Peter Gelb, told union members to prepare for a lockout starting Friday.

Mr. Gelb has said he is seeking labor-cost savings of 16% to 17%. The Musicians Union has said:

"For months, Gelb has purposely refused to provide essential financial information that would have allowed substantive, good-faith negotiations to proceed, instead making erroneous claims in the press in the run-up to his long-planned lockout.

"If the Met in fact is facing financial difficulties it is due to Peter Gelb's lavish overspending on productions that have been poorly received by critics and audiences. At the initial negotiating session scheduled for this Friday, July 25th, the musicians plan to propose ideas that would allow the Metropolitan Opera to realize over $20 Million in cost-savings and avoid draconian cuts to its artists. That Peter Gelb would announce the prospect of a lockout before the start of negotiations with the musicians, choristers, stagehands and other segments of the workforce is indicative of his disrespect for his audience, his artists and the City of New York."

To post a comment, you must register and login.