Philharmonic concerts canceled through April 11 following no agreement

Fort Wayne, IN (February 14, 2023) -- At the end of the session on February 5 with the Musicians, the Fort Wayne Philharmonic and Local 58, Fort Wayne Musicians Association did not reach an agreement on a new contract. Without a contract with the Musicians, The Philharmonic must cancel all scheduled concerts and community events through April 11.

Wages
The Fort Wayne Philharmonic again offered a generous wage increase of 45.8% over four years. Those annual wage increases are:

  • Year 1: 24.3%
  • Year 2: 10%
  • Year 3: 8.5%
  • Year 4: 3%
     

Attrition and Attendance
In a good faith effort to resolve the strike and bring music back to its stage as soon as possible, and despite making its best and final offer on January 7, the Board of Directors made additional accommodations in its offer to address additional Union requests.

Previous offers called for the reduction of three full-time core orchestra seats upon the voluntary departure of the current seat holder, moving these seats to per-service status. The revised offer provides for all 44 core seats to remain in the orchestra. The attendance policy in the revised offer extends further flexibility to per-service status seats. The policy would require each Musician to do 75% of services scheduled that season. In the new agreement, this point was scaled down to 60% for per-service Musicians. Furthermore, the Philharmonic has withdrawn a proposal that would extend the Musicians’ required work hours from 4-5pm, to preserve their 3-hour break from 4-7pm, and only clarifying that after-school programs will be included within the contract along with Fort Wayne youth and teen centers.

Management Rights
Another union concern was addressed in the final agreement relating to a management rights clause that reserves the Philharmonic the right to manage the operations of the organization on all other aspects not outlined in the terms and conditions of the collective bargaining agreement. In its revised offer, the Philharmonic clarified that the management rights clause in no way limits the grievance procedure for any grievance the Musicians might have going forward. The Philharmonic takes grievances seriously and respects the procedures in place.

Cancelled Events
If you are a Philharmonic ticketholder to one or more of the cancelled performances below, click here for ticketing options.

Cancelled concert dates are:
Feb 18 – Beethoven Violin Concerto
March 4 – “Go Now” Music of the Moody Blues
March 11 – Fanfare for the Common Man
March 16 – Freimann: Clara Schumann – Piano Trio
March 19 – Freimann: Clara Schumann – Piano Trio
April 1 – Bailando: Dances of Spain and South America

Cancelled community engagement dates are:
March 15 – Main Branch: Allen County Library, Stories in Music: Oh, the Places You’ll Go!

The Philharmonic remains available to clarify or answer any questions union representatives may have regarding the final offer and continues to be optimistic about the work that’s been done towards an agreement and getting music back to the community.