The Pittsburgh Symphony has signed a one-year deal with its musicians.
It restores pay cuts made during Covid and adds 2 percent as a thank-you.
But next year the two sides go head to head. This deal just delays the next confrontation (the picture is on the last musicians lockout.
There is no room for Sir Simon Rattle…
The incoming Chicago Symphony chief has just published…
This was last night after a performance of…
The Vienna Philharmonic has just awarded honorary membership…
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Dear Pittsburgh Symphony musicians,
You are lucky. Next year, Muti is free of institutional burdens and therefore available to stand on the picket lines with you. Call Jeff Alexander for instructions on how to leverage Muti on the picket lines for negotiating leverage. Your Music Director would never stand on the picket lines with you. He is a serious professional who respects the organization paying his salary.
This one should be carefully watched. Pittsburg is a supportive city and the orchestra is top notch. If these musicians can’t score a Cleveland or SF level contract, yikes for other American orchestras.
SF-level, no. If I recall correctly, the San Francisco and Chicago Symphonies jockey back and forth as the highest-paid orchestral musicians in the US.
Pittsburgh is not as large or wealthy as San Francisco (let alone the entire SF Bay Area, for which Pittsburgh has no equivalent), and the PSO almost certainly can’t afford to pay what the SFS does.
Happily, Pittsburgh is not as expensive as San Francisco, either, and the PSO should certainly be among the ten best-paid orchestras in the US, since it is easily among the ten best symphony orchestras.
Applause! In these days, this may be a very wise move. So many uncertainties for both sides. Let some days pass and let cooler heads negotiate.
To state this more accurately: the current agreement was set to expire at the end of the 2022-23 season (a year from now). The extension adds a year to that; so, now the contract expires in 2 years, in September 2024. The 2% increase is for the 2023-24 season.
Additionally, the COVID pay cut had already been restored (at the beginning of the 2021-22 season).
Full disclosure: I am the attorney representing the PSO Musicians, and assisted with this negotiation.
Thanks for clarifying – it is important to know true facts about things like that.