Welsh chorus vote on strike
OperaThe actors union Equity today began balloting its members at Welsh National Opera to approve industrial action.
Chorus pay is being cut by at least 15% and numbers will be reduced, with a real threat of compulsory redundancy.
Equity says: ‘WNO Management seem intent on pushing through these changes at speed under the misguided impression that this will, in some way, allow our members the opportunity to maximise the possibility of other employment.’
The problem is if the grants income of WNO has been slashed by half how can they continue and how can they pay anyone?
Our larger scale opera companies reflect the hard work of their founders , performers and director teams over decades. Think of the hard work of so many to provide opera of a high standard such as has been regularly heard at WNO.
Adjusting budgets from time to time plays a part in the lives of opera companies, strategies have to be found , but there is a limit to what can be done before the quality of production and welfare of company members suffers.
It seems so wrong that subsidies being cut can effectively trample on the hard work of decades.
They’ll be cutting their own throats in this desperate economic climate if they strike – that’s the reality. Arts simply don’t flourish in lean times when livelihoods are also at stake, and I suspect opera will be a luxury for most of the few, particularly in Wales. The company will probably do operas that don’t even require a chorus to keep the show on the road, as ENO did – I think – to get round the social distancing during Covid or else chorus strikes there. I fear the golden days of affordable opera and classical music in Britain that are affordable – apart from the Proms that no one should knock – are over. So much on a middle level of performing and being paid well, as opposed to the level of the few elite stars or those willing to sing for peanuts – has all but gone. Only so much money around unless we go down the American philanthropy way, but not all well there either.