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The union representing Seattle Symphony and Opera musicians says it authorized a strike vote after the organizations proposed a 15 percent pay cut. (AP image)

Musician strike may silence Seattle Symphony, Opera

BY Josh Kerns  on October 16, 2012 @ 12:17 pm (Updated: 2:36 pm - 10/16/12 )

Seattle's Symphony and Opera could be silenced after the union representing musicians for both approved a "strike authorization" for its members.

The Seattle Symphony and Opera Players' Organization says the musicians authorized the strike after management of both organizations proposed a 15 percent cut in pay in their last contract offer, the union says in a statement.

"The Seattle Symphony is one of the highest earned income-producing orchestras in the country and is forecasted to again have a balanced budget in the 2012-13 season," said cellist David Sabee. "We are proud of the contribution our past concessions have made toward balancing the budget, and see no reason that continued pay cuts should be necessary."

The union says local musicians have made a number of concessions since 2005, giving back more than $9.6 million to the symphony.

"The musicians have always been invested in the success of the Symphony and Opera, lending a hand in times of financial difficulty," added Sabee. "We are entering a new era at the Seattle Symphony and need to develop a compensation package reflective of this new period in order to uphold the artistic integrity of the Symphony and attract and retain the highest quality musicians."

The Seattle Symphony faces an $11 million debt from past season, while the Seattle Opera announced in June that it had a $1 million shortfall in its $21.4 million annual budget for its 2010-2011 season, The Seattle Times reports.

Union members planned to meet Tuesday to discuss next steps.

Josh Kerns, MyNorthwest.com Reporter
Josh Kerns is co-host of KIRO Radio's Seattle Sounds (Saturday nights 7-8) and a digital content producer for MyNorthwest.com.
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  • Chuck Gould wrote...
    Balanced budget, vs. $11-million shortfall?
    October 16, 2012 10:42 pm
    Woa. Tough to get a bead on this one without some sort of facts to work from. The cellist claims the union members are unwilling to take a 15% pay cut, because their pay has already been cut for several years in a row and the Seattle Symphony has a "balanced budget". If those statements are true, it's not tough to be sympathetic to labor in this dispute...

    However, management claims the Seattle Symphony lost $11-million last year. Yikes. If that's true, the union needs to carefully consider the difference between a 15% pay cut and still having a gig vs. no pay cut and no job (resulting in a 100% pay cut).

    How can the Seattle Symphony lose $1-million per month? What are these musicians making? I would guess that the whole orchestra doesn't make close to $1-million per month in salary. That would be equivalent to 100 musicians knocking down $10,000 per month apiece. Ain't happening.

    What's the solution? Asking the musicians to play for free?

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