In Friday’s (12/28) Star-Tribune (Minneapolis), Graydon Royce writes, “The lengthy stalemate over musician pay at both Twin Cities orchestras is showing signs of movement. Representatives of management and locked-out musicians will meet face to face next week at the Minnesota Orchestra and the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra. In Minneapolis, these would be the first official talks since musicians were locked out Oct. 1 in a dispute over pay cuts and work rules. At the SPCO, musicians were locked out Oct. 21, but contract talks continued into early November. In a joint statement, SPCO players and board members said the two sides would meet next Wednesday and Thursday with a federal mediator. These talks are being described as informal sessions to discuss ‘the very challenging issues that confront them.’ … On Dec. 21, management of the Minnesota Orchestra invited musicians back to the table with no preconditions. Previously, the board had insisted that musicians come to bargain only if they had a counterproposal. Musicians responded that they would consider the invitation to meet but that they wanted to know whether management would end the lockout, withdraw its final offer and make a new offer. A spokesman for the musicians said Thursday that the union still is awaiting answers to those questions but decided to accept the invitation to talk. That session has been set for Wednesday.”
Posted January 2, 2013
