After months of lobbying, the Metropolitan Opera has received $5 million in one-time operating support from the State of New York.

According to a press release by AGMA members who work at the Metropolitan Opera, with the support of AGMA staff, they helped deliver the win, not just for the Met but for the future of opera in New York.

In February, with the support of the New York State AFL-CIO, AGMA joined forces with other sibling unions at the Met, working alongside members of the Metropolitan Opera administration to lobby for increased public funding. With the invaluable leadership of State Assembly member Linda Rosenthal and Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, this effort sought to address the Met’s disproportionately low COVID-era relief compared to other major cultural institutions.

This news comes just days after AGMA began contract negotiations with the Met, where the union is calling for long-overdue and meaningful wage increases for all AGMA Artists.

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