Metropolitan Opera Deadline is Here; Federal Mediator is Proposed

Today is the day that Peter Gelb, general director of the Metropolitan Opera, has said a lockout will take place if the company's unions don't agree to his proposed pay cuts. With both sides still very far apart, the company proposed turning to a federal mediator, according to a story in today's New York Times.

The article states, "The management proposed federal mediation after the American Guild of Musical Artists, or A.G.M.A., the union for the chorus, stage directors, soloists, and others, made a proposal on Wednesday to switch to a nontraditional, less adversarial form of bargaining. The Met, which said there was not enough time left for such an approach, countered with the idea of mediators." It also adds, however, that because management says it intends to stick to the current timetable, it is unclear how effective any such mediator would be.

The newspaper adds, "The union representing the Met's stagehands, Local 1 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, was planning to continue its negotiations on Thursday and had no immediate plans to introduce a mediator, said someone close to that union who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the union did not want to negotiate through the news media."

For the full story, go to the URL listed below.