Weather 
The Associate Musicians of the Metropolitan Opera have reached a tentative agreement with the company on a one-year contract, the Associated Musicians of Greater New York, Local 802 AFM announced. The deal was struck on Tuesday, July 13, following the final negotiating session between the union and Met management.
The Met Associates – a bargaining unit of more than 130 musicians who supplement the Met Orchestra’s regular roster – make up 30% to 50% of the orchestra that audiences hear each night when the curtain goes up at the Met. After more than a decade of absorbing repeated cuts to their pay, the musicians have won a contract that the union says recognizes that contribution: the agreement ensures the associates keep pace with the wage increases won by other bargaining units at the company, while putting them on a path toward recovery and closing the longstanding wage parity gap with their Met Orchestra colleagues.
The agreement caps what Local 802 President Dan Point described as “a challenging uphill battle,” given the financial pressures facing the Metropolitan Opera in recent months. Over nine months of negotiations, the musicians insisted they would not trade permanent concessions for temporary gains, even with the institution facing an uncertain financial future.
In June, the associates joined forces with regular members of the Met Orchestra in a coordinated display of solidarity, wearing their Met Orchestra shirts on stage and outside Carnegie Hall at a concert. The bargaining committee also mobilized contract action team leaders and delivered a petition – signed by the musicians and presented both in person and online – before the July 13 session began, after which management accepted the union’s final offer.
“When musicians stand united, they get results, and that is exactly what happened at the Met Opera,” the union said in a statement, adding that Local 802 “could not be prouder of what they have won.”
The Met Associates deal arrives amid a busy stretch of bargaining for Local 802. The union also announced a newly ratified contract at 54 Below, Broadway’s supper club, and an agreement with the Festival Orchestra of Lincoln Center. Negotiations are ongoing with the Met Orchestra, the Met’s title callers, the Perlman Performing Arts Center, New York City Ballet, and Roundabout Theatre Company.
The union’s report also noted a political win for the opera house: New York State recently awarded $2 million to the Met, thanks in part to lobbying efforts by union members – a grant for which Met management publicly thanked its unions, including Local 802.
Local 802 AFM is the largest local union of professional musicians in the world, representing musicians across New York’s Broadway, classical, opera, and freelance scenes.
