The PSO announced Monday that it has canceled concerts scheduled between now through Oct. 27 in response to the strike.
Tuesday, October 04, 2016
Pittsburgh Symphony cancels performances through Oct. 27 in wake of musicians' strike
The PSO announced Monday that it has canceled concerts scheduled between now through Oct. 27 in response to the strike.
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I can't believe how many performances PSO is cancelling in response to the strike. While it probably makes sense in the current situation to cancel performances, I'm sure it's going to put their financial troubles into an even worse position. It's really such a difficult situation overall, because I can't imagine that the management at PSO is wanting to have to cut musicians salaries, and I would hope that they've come to this option as a last resort. The only problem with that is if there really is nothing else left to cut other than the salaries, there is likely not going to be a happy medium for musicians to return back to work. It's such a sad and tragic thing to see symphony orchestras around the world struggling so much financially, and I'm afraid it signals a significant shift in our society in terms of entertainment interests. I don't want to say that people are not seeing live classical music in the same scope that they may have previously, mostly just because I don't know enough about the statistics to be sure, however if that really is the cause of these salary cuts I feel terrible for the musicians who have dedicated their life to this art.
I think strikes are probably one of the worst things that can happen for a large company of any kind, because nobody wins. The company is obviously struggling financially so it feels like its hands are tied and there is nothing that can be done, but by the same token the employees obviously need to live and support themselves. Brennan is right in saying that it is scary they have cancelled so many performances so far in advance right off the bat. That means they assume they won't be coming to a conclusion with the musicians any time soon, and at least to me, that doesn't seem like the right way to go about it. My mother is a public school teacher and when her union went on strike the response from the government was to find away out of the strike as fast as possible. Not only is it bad for the company financially to have your workers walk out, it is but publicity. PSO for years to come is going to be plagued by the next few months, ad in my opinion they aren't working fast enough to fix it. I recognize that all around the word symphonies are struggling and musicians struggle financially for pretty much their whole lives, but this is not an excuse to pay unfair wages to musicians, it never as and never will be a viable excuse.
Scary stuff! Strikes are always so interesting to me because I never know who is right - I wish this article included some information on other factors at work and the differences between the two proposed retirement plans. I find it interesting that the management side is saying that the proposed pay increase would be millions, but they still would like to cut their pay? Why would anyone be okay with having their pay cut if they are asking for a raise?
I also wish there was some more information about the financial status of the organizations that are causing them so much financial worry. I know classical concerts aren't the most popular thing, but how bad is it? Are they at risk of closing? And the part about not filling future vacancies is scary too - how will young musicians find work if the symphony isn't hiring?
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