A report Wednesday (11/16) on the NY 1 website states, “The management of the New York City Opera has passed an offer from the unions representing its musicians and singers that could have saved the company some much-needed cash. Officials from both sides are exclusively telling NY1 that a proposal from the unions that would have eliminated workers’ salaries entirely for the New York City Opera 2011-2012 season has been rejected. Performers offered to keep their benefits in exchange for an equal partnership with management over the next two years. ‘We’re really disappointed. We know that it was a kind of ‘think outside the box’ kind of proposal. I don’t know where it’s being done, but what’s happening at City Opera is also really unprecedented,’ New York City Opera Negotiating Committee Chair Gail Kruvand said on Monday. ‘So our proposal was a response to a really unprecedented situation.’ Management said allowing the performers to work for free could violate labor laws. They also said it would not save much money because the opera would still have to pay performers for rehearsal time and the full yearly cost of health insurance for all employees, including many who would work fewer than three months a year. Management had proposed an hourly pay system instead.”
Posted November 17, 2011
