Philadelphia Orchestra goes on strike, cancels opening gala
PHILADELPHIA – The Philadelphia Orchestra has gone on strike, cancelling an opening night performance that about 1,000 people had come to hear.
Philly.com reports (http://bit.ly/2dgQZRh ) that the 96 musicians and two librarians who belong to American Federation of Musicians Local 77 decided to strike about an hour before curtain time on Friday. Last-minute efforts to reach an agreement failed during back stage talks.
Orchestra president Allison B. Vulgamore appeared on stage about 20 minutes before the concert was to begin and told the audience there would be no performance because a labour agreement wasn’t in place for “one of the world’s greatest orchestras, if not the greatest.”
After the audience left the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, musicians came out carrying picket signs.
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Information from: Philly.com, http://www.philly.com/
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