The musicians of the New Haven Symphony Orchestra voted to strike on Friday to fight for an increase in wages, according to a release.
According to the musicians, negotiations with management have been ongoing since April 2022.
“It has been a slow, difficult process,” the musicians said in the release. “Management’s offers have been far below even a cost-of-living increase and have included unreasonably harsh changes to our working conditions.”
According to the release, the New Haven Symphony Orchestra received a $14 million gift from the estate of James D. English in June 2022, the largest gift in the orchestra’s history, but was not reflected in the members’ wages.
The Hartford Business Journal reported that the gift resulted in a budget increase of $2.2 to $2.7 million.
“We have been in really long negotiations with the union and we were shocked to find yesterday that they were talking about a strike because we have been making progress,” CEO Elaine Carroll said. “We have our family holiday concert this weekend, so we are continuing to negotiate.”
The December Holiday Pops scheduled for this weekend will go on as planned, according to the group.
“The NHSO did not receive $14 million,” Carroll said. “The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven received a very large gift that benefits several organizations in the community of which the NHSO gets a share of the proceeds over time. It takes about five years for the gift to fully capitalize and expend its expected distribution which is about 4.5% of that. But the NHSO did not get a check. We don’t have access to $14 million. What we do have, and with huge thanks to the English family, is a guaranteed income in gratuity from investments related to that gift.”
In the recent contract for 2018-22, musicians claim wages rose 6% while Carroll’s salary rose 19%, adding that the new audits will show further raises for the 2023 fiscal year.
According to the musicians, their salaries reflected 23.5% of the 2022-23 budget, below the average of peer orchestras.
“We, the musicians, wish nothing more than to continue providing excellent music for our community,” they said, “but stagnating wages make it difficult for us to accept an engagement with the NHSO when we are offered work elsewhere.
“Our CEO has said, ‘Thanks to the English family, there will always be an orchestra in New Haven,'” they added. “Management’s actions during these negotiations will put the NHSO and its 128-year history of excellence in jeopardy.”
But Carroll said that the pandemic hit the NHSO’s budget hard and that the Board agreed to operate at a deficit over several years to ensure its musicians were adequately paid.
“It’s no secret, but if COVID didn’t happen our budget would have increased 20%,” Carroll said. “The raise we have on the table for the musicians is over 22%. We want to share the benefits with them. What happened under COVID is our income budget hasn’t changed at all and income is overall down. Donations, audience, ticket sales continue to be way down. So our $2.2 million budget from when we received the gift has stayed about the same because of these pressures. We are operating in a deficit, but we will continue to give raises and ensure the community the amount of concerts they are use to, despite the fact our income hasn’t changed.”
Stephen Underwood can be reached at sunderwood@courant.com
