132 SF Symphony members go on strike 90 minutes before concert

SAN FRANCISCO ( KRON ) — On Thursday, 132 members of the San Francisco Symphony went on strike 90 minutes before the long-awaited Verdi Requiem concert for what they say is a failure to reach a new contract for higher wages. The SF Symphony canceled the next three days of Verdi Requiem, and hopeful attendees were refunded for their tickets.

Administrators claim SF symphony members "forced the cancellation." Symphony members, however, are telling KRON4 that claim was simply "not true."

"That not the case. The union showed up, wearing concert blacks, ready, even hoping to go on stage. All of us want to sing, to perform. All of us want to make music of the highest level and bring it to the public, and we're still ready to put our concert clothes on and sing tonight (Friday)." Cheryl Cain, an opera singer and member of the SF Symphony Chorus, told KRON4.

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Contract negotiations were specifically held between the 32 singing chorus members of the symphony, who are represented by the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA).

Cain has been with the AGMA since 2006. She says singers get paid "nearly a third" of what instrumentalists at the symphony get paid. She knows fellow chorus members who have had to take up office jobs and even move out of the Bay Area due to increasing costs and a lack of pay.

"All we're asking for is fair pay. We're not even asking for, you know, equal pay with the instrumentalists. We're asking to be paid what we've been paid so far and to keep going like that so we can continue this beautiful music we're making," she said.

Elliott Encarnaciòn, an AGMA Governor sitting on the union's executive council, has been a part of negotiations with SF Symphony for the past three years. Instead of higher wages, Encarnaciòn says union members were initially offered an 80% pay cut.

"The symphony has been very public about their perceived economic trouble, and we are in recognition of that. We're willing to make some concessions, but not concessions that set us up for, you know, existential threats like the ones [SF Symphony administration] made," Encarnaciòn said.

Encarnaciòn said that instead of achieving higher pay, chorus members were then offered a 65% cut in pay instead of the initial 80% offer. Union members rejected the offer, eventually getting offered a temporary one-year extension to maintain wages the same as they were—for the second year in a row. They also rejected that offer.

"Our latest contract offer to the AGMA members of the SF Symphony Chorus is fair, equitable, and competitive," the SF Symphony said in a statement. "Our offer to maintain current wage levels reflects our commitment to the Chrous, especially in light of the challenging financial pressures this organization is currently facing."

To better understand the reasoning behind SF Symphony's most recent offer, Encarnaciòn said AGMA hired a financial consultant.

"[The financial analyst's] professional opinion is that there is no significant issue, certainly not one that justifies the kind of austerity that they were proposing to us at the time, which was that 80 percent reduction," Encarnaciòn said.

Union members and the symphony do not have an upcoming date for negotiations as of the publishing of this report. The SF Symphony said it does not anticipate any further concert cancellations.