132 SF Symphony members go on strike 90 minutes before concert

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) — On Thursday, 132 members of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra went on strike 90 minutes before a highly anticipated performance of Verdi’s Requiem, over what they said was a failure to reach a new agreement that would provide higher wages. The San Francisco Symphony has canceled the next three days of the Verdi Requiem, and concertgoers who had hoped to attend the concert were refunded their tickets.

Administrators claim that members of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra “forced the cancellation.” However, orchestra members told KRON4 that claim is simply “false.”

“That’s not the case. The union came, dressed in black, ready, even hoping to get on stage. We all want to sing, perform on stage. We all want to make music of the highest caliber and present it to the public, and we’re still ready to put on our concert outfits and sing tonight (Friday),” Cheryl Cain, an opera singer and member of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, told KRON4.

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Contract negotiations were conducted specifically between the 32 members of the symphony’s choral choir, who are represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA).

Cain has been a member of AGMA since 2006. She says singers are paid “almost a third” of what symphony players are paid. She knows choir members who have had to take office jobs and even move out of the Bay Area because of rising costs and lack of pay.

“All we’re asking for is fair pay. We’re not even asking for equal pay to instrumentalists. We’re asking to be paid as much as we’ve been paid so far and to keep it that way so we can keep making this beautiful music that we’re making,” she said.

Elliott Encarnaciòn, AGMA governor and a member of the union’s executive board, has been involved in negotiations with the SF Symphony for three years. Instead of a pay raise, Encarnaciòn says union members were initially offered an 80 percent pay cut.

“The symphony has been very public about its perceived economic problems, and we are aware of that. We are willing to make concessions, but not concessions that expose us to existential threats like those the San Francisco Symphony administration has made,” Encarnaciòn said.

Encarnaciòn said that instead of getting a pay raise, choir members were offered a 65 percent pay cut instead of the initial 80 percent offer. Union members rejected the offer, and were eventually offered a temporary one-year extension to keep their salaries at the same level, for the second year in a row. They also rejected that offer.

“Our latest contract offer to the SF Symphony Chorus’ AGMA members is fair, equitable and competitive,” the SF Symphony said in a statement. “Our offer to maintain current salary levels reflects our commitment to the Chorus, particularly in light of the difficult financial pressures this organization is currently facing.”

To better understand the reasoning behind SF Symphony’s most recent offer, Encarnaciòn said AGMA hired a financial consultant.

“The professional opinion (of the financial analyst) is that there is no significant problem, certainly not a problem that justifies the type of austerity that they were proposing to us at the time, which was this 80 percent reduction,” Encarnaciòn said.

Union members and the symphony have no upcoming bargaining dates as of this writing. The San Francisco Symphony has said it does not anticipate canceling any new concerts.

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