Strike Authorized by AGMA Members of San Francisco Symphony Chorus
By David SalazarAGMA leadership and AGMA members of the San Francisco Symphony Chorus have voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike.
Per the press release, the ensemble’s upcoming Verdi Requiem, which opens on Sept. 19 and runs for three performances, could find itself compromised by the potential strike.
The vote, which took place on Sept. 16, saw the members vote 100 percent in favor of the authorization; 98.1 percent of eligible members voted. Moreover, 81.1 percent of unpaid singers from the Verdi Requiem chorus will also honor the AGMA picket line.
“The decision to authorize a strike is never taken lightly, but the chorus members of the San Francisco Symphony have demonstrated incredible unity and resolve in the face of a management unwilling to negotiate fairly,” said AGMA President Ned Hanlon, who is also a full-time Chorister at the Metropolitan Opera, per an official press release.
This is the latest in an ongoing saga with the San Francisco Symphony, which has continually sought to cut the budget allotted for the Chorus from $1 million to $200,000. That includes cutting annual compensation by 65 percent, reducing chorus programs from just five programs per year (down from eight to 11), and refusing equitable cuts across the Company, including to the salaries of upper management.
Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen announced that he would be leaving the organization at the end of the 2024-25 season “because I do not share the same goals for the future of the institution as the Board of Governors does.” Vance George, Chorus Director Emeritus of the San Francisco Symphony, also wrote an open letter denouncing the board’s proposed cuts.
“The San Francisco Symphony already receives, by far, the largest return on investment from any other pillar of the organization from the Chorus, as only a quarter of the singers are paid, and those paid singers receive the lowest rates of any working artist in the company,” added Elliott Encarnación, an AGMA Governor on the Executive Council and SFSC negotiating committee member. “To target the Chorus with these dubious cuts suggests an unconscionable lack of respect, and frankly understanding of the treasure this ensemble is or how to steward it responsibly.”
