Covent Garden orchestra votes 9-1 for strike
OrchestrasThe orchestra of the Royal Opera House has voted overwhelmingly to authorise a strike after the company refused their demand to restore pay to pre-Covid levels.
Almost 93% of the players voted. The vote was 89.87 in favour, according to the Musicians Union.
Reasonable request by the players. I hope it’s resolved quickly.
Finally! A UK orchestra with some bollocks to stand up for themselves!
It’s not about having bx, but about whether a job in England, will be there given the state of both classical music and the profession in general. It is all on a knife edge and nothing has gone back to pre-covid within itself.
They have to be careful that Jakub doesn’t walk away.
The ROH is far greater than an MD, no matter who they are.
The annual grant has been cut by ACE from £24,471,000 to £22,268,584 but that still leaves just about enough to restore musicians’ pay to pre COVID levels without emptying the coffers completely.
Also still difficult to understand why ROH has to sacrifice the musicians to repay the Coronavirus Business Loan to the Government and the main UK artists’ agencies (profit companies which one has been sold for profit in the meantime) benefited from Covid Arts Recovery Fund.
Who didn’t see companies all over the world trying to do this to the musicians as predicted three years ago?
Many all over the world are not funded the same way as here in England. There is an Arts Council in England that nearly has destroyed English National Opera, thus jobs at risk by cutting grants. Put the price of tickets up anymore at Covent Garden anymore, and then only the rich can go or tourists from abroad to make up numbers.
Good.
I suggest that overpaid individuals in management – including the music director (if necessary) – make some salary sacrifices.
These grotesque pay differentials have on for far too long, in our society. Everyone needs to take a stand against them.
Just curious: if you were in charge of an arts organization, what would believe to be an acceptable salary?
In a free-market economy (as the UK purports to be), the definition of “acceptable salary” is based on supply and demand, in which employers/clients and employees/freelancers have various forms of legitimate leverage they can bring to bear. Industrial action is one such form of leverage, and, judging by the strong mandate therefor, it will be quite powerful on this occasion. Whilst the music profession at large can get away with very uncompetitive pay (compared with other professions), an established, experienced, and highly skilled orchestra performing in the pit for the UK’s leading opera house is in a relatively strong position (in that context, cutting corners on artistic standards in a pit orchestra — for instance, by doing little/nothing to induce the best players to stay — would be a false economy), and they have every right to fight their corner, and thereby force upwards the definition of what constitutes an “acceptable salary” (and, correspondingly, what constitutes acceptable freelance pay, which should be higher than the salaried equivalent to reflect the “no mutuality of obligation” associated with engagements on a freelance basis), which is very much to the benefit of musicians more generally.
This is an extremely shocking story.
The idea that audiences have been buying tickets at full price while the management have used the pandemic to perform an opportunistic raid on the salaries of one of the country’s finest orchestras is utterly heartbreaking – there can be no legitimate argument not to restore their wages, particularly in light of ROH’s recently reported 58% increase in income (https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/royal-opera-house-s-income-grows-by-48m-as-performances-resume.html)
it just tells us that it won’t be long before the players start looking for work elsewhere, and ROH will struggle to recruit. Courage to the orchestra and shame on the management or board members who’ve presided over this disgraceful and scandalous episode.
Note, though, that ROH was, and is, the highest paid orchestra in the UK. Both the highest annual salaries for players in cash terms, and in addition the fewest hours of work for that salary of any contracted orchestra (and so the greatest time available to slot in additional work or outside interests for those who wish to).
I doubt they have, or will have, much problem in recruiting.
Untrue. The LSO is the highest earning UK orchestra. ROH May be the highest paid contract orchestra though…
>>one of the country’s finest orchestras
So it is often claimed. But to my ears it isn’t.
They sound world class on a decent stage – Symphony Hall in Birmingham, for example.
I agree it’s outrageous that ticket revenue is back to pre-Covid levels (or higher) but musicians’ pay is not. But if the players start looking for work elsewhere, will they find it?
Not much work elsewhere! They need to be careful. Many have families, kids at school, and mortgages on homes to pay. They can’t just upstix and go elsewhere. Many out there willing to work for less to get an orchestral job.
They need to get some of their most generous sponsors back. I’m sure the musicians and Union would agree.
Presumably any pay reduction during the pandemic was done by consent, not by unilateral decision of the ROH? If so, was there not an “exit” clause as to when and how pay would be restored?
Another win for Labor! It’s just a shame that the British government is current so damned anti-Labor Conservative!
The answer is simple; income needs to be increased and that could be achieved by a more ‘woke’ and ‘diverse’ approach to programme planning. At present, the ROH presents long and boring operas to the toffs; they are all elitist because they appeal to rich white people. The operas themselves are not diverse; they focus on white people too. OK, there’s Otello, but that demonises black people by portraying the protagonist as a black murderer. Worse still, as far as I know, the role has never been sung by a black murderer. Madam Butterfly demonises the Japanese and Turandot demonises the Chinese royal dynasty.
The ROH needs to present productions more relevant to modern-day tastes. What about some rap concerts, interspersed with special events: A Doctor Who evening, a singalong with various rock songs, music-hall evenings for non-intellectuals of a certain age and commissioned operas about climate change, Facebook romances, Boris Johnson’s lockdown parties and the life of Banksy. Get rid of the champagne in the bar and replace it with real ales. Replace the restaurant menu with burgers, pizza and pasta.
Sincerely hope this is satire on the cuts of ACE?
And £11 for a sandwich! Those not bought, I have seen thrown into bin bags rather than charge a realistic price in the first place, avoid waste. Plenty of homeless outside hungry. Don’t even go near the champagne!