In the new deal, Local 802 agreed to make significant compromises in the hopes of sustaining City Opera and helping it grow. Tino Gagliardi, the president of Local 802, said in a statement: "This settlement is far from ideal, but our membership has voted to move forward in the hopes that the deep concessions they have accepted will allow the Opera to begin to come back to fiscal health [and] expand its audience…Our great hope is that going forward, management can begin to make better decisions."
The new contract allows for the continuation of health insurance for orchestra members until at least January 2013 and a health care contribution for each month worked after that date. The inclusion of this provision prevents the company from carrying out one of its previous proposals, which involved doing away with salaries and benefits for chorus and orchestra members and paying them only for rehearsals and performances.
A labor-management committee will also be created, per the agreement's terms, to focus on the company's planning, artistic, and fund-raising aspects.
City Opera had previously reached tentative agreements on Wednesday with its unions, Local 802 and American Guild of Musical Artists, which represents the company's singers, choristers, and production personnel. This agreement ended a lockout that began on Jan. 9.
AGMA still needs to ratify its proposed deal with the company. Over the next few weeks, guild members will submit votes on the issue.
Rehearsals have started for "La Traviata," City Opera's first production of its 2012 season.
