San Antonio Symphony Musicians Declare Strike Over Proposed Cuts
An announcement Sunday by the San Antonio Symphony Society that it would immediately impose its “last, best and final offer” prompted a unanimous strike vote by the musicians of the San Antonio Symphony.
The employer’s offer would reduce the orchestra from 72 members earning approximately $35,000 seasonally to 42 full-time “core” positions earning $24,500 each season with 4 positions eliminated, and 26 ‘per-service” positions who would perform for $125 per service with a guarantee 90 services annually.
Violinist Mary Ellen Goree, chair of the orchestra committee, said that she and her colleagues feel beaten down after years of accepting pay cuts with promises of restitution. “My colleagues and I refuse to be complicit in destroying the orchestra and betraying our colleagues by removing their jobs and benefits,” she said.
The musicians are represented by AFM Local 23 (San Antonio, TX). The Symphony Society of San Antonio, aka San Antonio Symphony, has been placed on the AFM’s International Unfair List at the request of Local 23 President David Oppenheim.
The AFM will provide additional information as soon as relief and benefit funds are established to assist members of the striking San Antonio Symphony Orchestra.
