Central City Opera (CCO) has issued a statement noting that it has filed an unfair labor practices claim against the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA).

The claim, which was filed with the National Labor Relations Board, asserts that AGMA has violated several provisions of the National Labor Relations Act during their current collective bargaining agreement negotiations including demanding the removal of the lead CCO representative from the company’s bargaining committee, “making false, defamatory and disparaging comments and allegations against CCO verbally and in writing,” and refusing to compromise on counterproposals in good faith and even with providing CCO with information essential to the bargaining process.

“CCO is proud of its long and storied history as a staunch advocate for opera and the arts in Colorado and across the country,” said Roopesh Aggarwal and Heather Miller, co-chairs of the board of directors, in an official statement. “The artists who grace our stage and work tirelessly behind the scenes to deliver world-class performances for our patrons are the lifeblood of the company.”

In response, AGMA published its own statement rejecting Central City Opera’s claims, noting that the statement was released moments after “canceling a bargaining session with the union” scheduled for Dec. 15, 2022.

Moreover, AGMA noted that it had “already filed an Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) earlier this week about this non-union production (though we didn’t feel the need to publish that we took this action publicly).”

The statement also purports that CCO also engaged in a union-busting tactic of stalling negotiations for three hours during a Dec. 1 bargaining session.

“In our last bargaining session on December 1, AGMA’s bargaining committee sat in caucus for just under three hours waiting for CCO’s responses to AGMA counterproposals, until CCO emailed us just to say they couldn’t continue the session that day,” AGMA claimed.

Finally, the union noted that numerous artists reached out to the company to relate their experiences with CCO.

These latest statements come following the release of an open letter by AGMA in which it notes not only issues with the current negotiations but also “draconian proposals” utilized by the company.

The most recent collective bargaining agreement between AGMA and Central City Opera expired in August 2022.