ENO Chorus Votes to Strike Following Proposed Job, Wage Cuts

Following "threats of redundancies and wage cuts by the management of the English National Opera," the company's chorus officially voted to strike today.

The vote was held earlier today, with the announcement at the Arts Council England (ACE) in London captured in the video. Per the announcement, "Equity is calling on ENO management to keep a full-time, world-class Chorus and to reverse the decision to reduce their salary to 75% and cut jobs."

The strike will be held during Act 1 of 18 March's performance of AKHNATEN. "Days of action short of a strike will take place 4 -19 March inclusive and may include protest about the matters that are the subject of the trade dispute during the course of performances or during any rehearsal or costume calls," the group explains. "They may also not agree to any call that would constitute overtime."

Hilary Hadley, Equity's Head of Live Performance, said in a statement released today: "The Chorus have no interest in causing economic harm to their own company, which is why the overwhelming majority of the industrial action will be actions of protest and will not damage a performance in any way for the audience or the ENO box office. However, the impact of the current proposals on the Chorus is so great that they have had to reluctantly consider strike action."

English National Opera quickly responded, releasing their own statement. "We are extremely disappointed that Equity have balloted members of the ENO chorus, and they have decided to proceed with industrial action - including a strike - before undertaking serious negotiations. Given the assurance that no action would be taken which would damage the company, we are saddened that the action that they have chosen seems specifically designed to cause the utmost harm to both the company and our audience....

To be clear, we are not asking the chorus to work the same number of months for 75% of pay, as has been suggested by Equity. We are asking the chorus to move to a nine month contract, reflecting the work they will undertake in future seasons for the company. We are reducing their contracted time with the company by 25%, and have put forward a 17.5% reduction in pay (equivalent to 10 months pay - nine months plus four weeks paid holiday to be taken outside of their contracted 'core' season)."

Click here to read ENO's full response. For ENO Chorus' full statement and explanation, click here.

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