Musicians picket US orchestra

Musicians picket US orchestra

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norman lebrecht

January 22, 2016

The Fort Worth Symphony is demanding an eight percent cut in the already-paltry wages of its musicians.

They have voted unanimously to authorise a strike. The first picket took place yesterday.
fort worth Symphony protest 005
The company says it is still in recovery from the 2008 crash.

Comments

  • CA says:

    Please define “paltry.” A recent news article from another source said this: “Average pay would drop about $5,000, to nearly $56,000 a year.” If that’s accurate, then average pay is/was somewhere near $60k. I get it that average pay isn’t the same pay they a new incoming player gets, but even so, whatever FW had been paying is well above many US orchestras who do pay what could be considered “paltry” wages and who have fewer working weeks. Many orchestras have yet to break $50k per year, or even $40k. To be clear, this observation is not meant to take anything at all away from the serious situation in FW……..hope they can work this out and keep the music playing.

  • Robert says:

    The paradox I observe is that Bass Hall was built to promote the FWS and provide a suitable venue for them (and other big ticket ensembles) and yet now it is squeezing them on the rent at a rate way above inflation.

    Am I missing something?

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