FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 23, 2024
Press Contact:
Edgardo Malaga
President
DC Federation of Musicians, Local 161-710, American Federation of Musicians
(240) 731-3613
National Symphony Orchestra Musicians Unanimously Authorize Strike
A strike could be called as early as Tuesday evening.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The DC Federation of Musicians, Local 161-710, American Federation of Musicians announced today that the musicians of the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) have unanimously voted to authorize a strike against their employer, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The union (acting through the musicians’ negotiating committee) and the Kennedy Center have been in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement since May but remain far apart on wages and other material issues. The prior agreement expired in early September. The musicians going on strike this week would affect the three scheduled concerts featuring Sara Bareilles and this Saturday’s Season Opening Gala Concert.
The NSO has cemented its reputation as one of the premier orchestras in the United States. Its classical and pops concerts have been critically acclaimed and have consistently played to packed houses, both at the Kennedy Center and around the world.
Yet, the base wages of NSO musicians have declined by roughly 15 percent (adjusting for inflation) since the beginning of their last collective bargaining agreement more than five years ago.
Several peer orchestras to the NSO recently agreed to contracts with substantial raises. Just last week, the New York Philharmonic agreed to increase its musicians’ salaries by an average of 11 percent per year over three years, with a 15 percent increase in the first year alone. New York Philharmonic executive Deborah Borda hailed the agreement as a “restorative settlement” in an interview with the New York Times and described management’s “full confidence” in meeting its financial and fundraising goals. The Boston Symphony agreed to similar increases last year.
As of today, the NSO musicians are making substantially less than are the musicians in the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and San Franciso Symphony. That pay disparity combined with the high cost of living in the D.C. area make it harder for the NSO to attract and retain talent commensurate with the reputation of the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center itself as a premier performance venue.
The union has proposed reasonable wage increases averaging 6.25 percent per year over the next four years. This proposal would keep the NSO in parity with its peers. It also would recognize the substantial give-backs the musicians voluntarily provided the Kennedy Center during the pandemic (which amounted to each musician forfeiting a minimum of $60,000).
In contrast, the Kennedy Center has proposed wage increases for the NSO musicians that average only 3 percent annually over the next four years. That proposal would lock in a nearly decade-long decline in real wages of musicians in the orchestra.
“As our national center for the performing arts, the Kennedy Center should be a leader among arts institutions in fairly compensating its artists,” said Ed Malaga, President of the DC Federation of Musicians, Local 161-710, American Federation of Musicians. “Instead, the Kennedy Center has made proposals that are far out of step with other orchestras throughout the country. It is disheartening to see that the Kennedy Center is unwilling to recognize the value of the world-class orchestra these musicians have built and to compensate them in the manner they deserve.”
The lack of constructive engagement by Kennedy Center management regrettably continues past practice, which accounts for the unanimity of the musicians’ strike vote and their solidarity. In March 2020, Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter unilaterally announced mandatory unpaid furloughs for the entire orchestra, despite the fact that Congress only hours before had provided the Kennedy Center with a special pandemic-relief appropriation of $25 million. The attempted furlough violated the parties’ collective bargaining agreement and required the union to take legal action, leading to a reversal of the announced furloughs. The parsimony of the Kennedy Center’s current offer likewise impelled the musicians to authorize a strike now.
About the Metropolitan Washington, DC Federation of Musicians, Local 161-710, American Federation of Musicians
The DC Federation of Musicians, Local 161-710, American Federation of Musicians has been serving Washington-area musicians since 1901 and continues to be an effective advocate for musicians’ rights in the workplace, be that a nightclub, symphony stage, opera pit, recording studio or on tour.
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