We also trust that the mediator will urge management to acknowledge its overspending and role in falling revenues. It is our hope that the mediated negotiations will finally yield transparency on the part of Met management, requiring it to prove why it needs upwards of $30 Million in cuts to address a deficit of $2.8 million. Declaring a lockout would gravely undermine the mediation process. Tino Gagliardi, president of the Met Orchestra' union, Local 802, AFM, said in a statement, "We are working with FMCS Deputy Director Allison Beck and will return to the bargaining table tomorrow, and we are prepared to do so every day after tomorrow if the mediation effort is proceeding in good faith. Gelb has cited ticket sales, rising operating costs and a depleted endowment as contributing to the financial problems. Prior to talks, Gelb, according to a press release from the Met Orchestra Musicians, "had for months refused to provide essential information to allow negotiations to begin, then days before the start of scheduled discussions, sent a letter warning workers to prepare to be locked out and receive no pay or benefits after their contract expired August 1."
Musicians, Met Opera artists, elected officials in NYC and more have called on Gelb to continue negotiating in good faith and lift his threat of lockout. As previously reported, contracts were to expire for 15 of the Met's 16 unions July 31, and the opera company's general manager, Gelb, advised union members to prepare for a lockout.
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