Equity members of the Chorus at Welsh National Opera have agreed to postpone planned strike action set for Nov. 15, but will continue with other industrial action.

Chorus members held an Equity meeting on Nov. 8 to discuss the latest proposals from management. They agreed to change strike action to action short of strike on Nov. 15, to allow for further talks and promotion. The Equity members also decided to ramp up industrial action short of strike for upcoming performances and to take three consecutive days of strike action in Feb.

Simon Curtis, Equity National Official for Wales, explained in a press release, “Our WNO Chorus members are understandably frustrated, and the ongoing uncertainty about jobs and income is very stressful. We will use the performance on Friday 15 November as an opportunity to highlight the threats to WNO as our members remain resolute in maintaining a full-time Chorus and their opposition to compulsory redundancies. We have made progress in talks, but the latest proposal doesn’t resolve all the problems and we have a gap to close to reach a resolution. The February strike action would be a significant escalation and we hope that every effort can be put into a negotiated settlement that protects the future of the Chorus and Welsh National Opera productions.”

The 30-strong Chorus is taking action to save jobs and prevent compulsory redundancies. Industrial action has been seen in the form of campaign t-shirts on stage during curtain calls, speeches to the audience from the stage, demonstrate outside venues, and informative leaflets handed out to audiences.

The strike action on Feb. 6, 7, and 8  will impact performances of “Opera Favourites” and Mozart’s “The Marriage of Figaro.”