Contact:
Carl Herko
Vice President, Media & Public Relations
503-416-6347
cherko@orsymphony.org
September 22, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
OREGON SYMPHONY, MUSICIANS UNION
AGREE ON NEW TWO-YEAR CONTRACT
(PORTLAND, Ore.) –Oregon Symphony musicians have voted to approve a new two-year contract that covers the orchestra’s 2008/09 and 2009/10 concert seasons and increases musician compensation in both years.
The agreement provides for a 5 percent musician salary increase this season with a cost-of-living increase at the start of the second year. It maintains the size of the orchestra at its current complement of 76 musicians.
The ratification vote came just before the Oregon Symphony Association’s annual meeting, which took place Sept. 19.
“The musicians are pleased with the new agreement,” Jason Schooler, a bass player who serves as chair of the Orchestra Committee, said at the annual meeting. “We appreciate the fact that you value the musicians so much, that you’re willing to invest in us.
“It really is an investment, a wise investment, because it reaps significant dividends in the long run. The investment supports and helps nourish the artistic quality of the orchestra. It helps ensure that this orchestra will continue to grow and thrive.”
The orchestra’s board of directors had approved the contract earlier.
“The negotiations reinforced how well our musicians understand our financial situation,” said Oregon Symphony Association President Elaine Calder. “We worked with them to balance fiscal reality and their aspirations, and I was impressed by the thoughtful and detailed analysis they brought to the negotiating sessions.
“Our musicians’ compensation lags far behind that of their peers in American cities of a comparable size, and this agreement really only ensures that they don’t fall further behind,” Calder added. “The board knows this and recognizes the very real contribution our musicians are making to our financial recovery.”
The agreement comes as the 2008/09 season’s Classical concert series gets under way Sept. 27-29 with three performances of Ludwig van Beethoven’s monumental Symphony No. 9.
Oregon Symphony musicians are represented by Local 99 of the American Federation of Musicians. Calder acknowledged the tremendous contribution made by retiring secretary-treasurer of the local, Kenneth Shirk, who has played a vital role in musicians’ negotiations with the Oregon Symphony Association for more than a decade.