Although the contract is settled, there are many other issues which are not, including whether conductor Osmo Vanska will return.
The musicians’ vote ends the nation’s longest-running contract dispute for a concert orchestra. Both sides say they’re pleased with the agreement.
Musicians will return to work on Feb. 1. Under the terms of a three-year contract, they will have to take a 15 percent pay cut in the first year, but they will receive raises in the second and third years, resulting in a total pay cut of 10 percent over the term of the contract.
However, they will also be paying increased health care expenses that orchestra mangers said will make the musicians’ total concession about 15 percent.
“Keeping our salaries in the top ten was a critical issue for us, as it allows us to attract and retain the finest musicians in the country, and continue building the tradition of excellence that has been cultivated by the community over the past 110 years,” cellist and musician negotiator Marcia Peck said.
Although a number of musician positions will remain vacant, the agreement adds seven members over three years, which will increase the size of the orchestra from 77 to 84 musicians.
The musicians also won concessions from management on work rules and greater input into the running of the orchestra that will involve quarterly meetings on artistic output. They received a guarantee of 20 weeks of classical concerts, which will help allay musician concerns that the orchestra was moving too much toward popular music.
Details on concerts will be announced soon.
“Our plan is to resume concerts as soon as possible, with ‘homecoming’ programs in early February and then the launch of our 2014 subscription season,” Minnesota Orchestra President and CEO Michael Henson said. “We are happy to begin a new chapter by welcoming our audiences and the greater community to Orchestra Hall and the musicians back to this stage.”
Management locked out the musicians in October 2012 after the musicians rejected a contract proposal calling for 35 percent salary cuts and a myriad of changes in work rules.